


Three Educated Guesses A Day [[ON HIATUS]]

by TheDoorMarked42



Series: Sam/Bucky : ABO Dynamics Stories [3]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Doctor Sam Wilson, Doctor/Patient, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Omega Bucky Barnes, Sam-Centric, Slow Burn, Teen Wolf Universe AU (Kinda?), X-Men Universe AU, mentions of torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-16
Updated: 2017-12-14
Packaged: 2018-10-06 01:41:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 33,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10322630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDoorMarked42/pseuds/TheDoorMarked42
Summary: "I thought you might've wanted me to go off topic. It seems like you're not too comfortable talking about it right now. Do you want to tell the story to me that bad?" Sam says in a light hearted tone, trying to ease the tension or sadness.This actually got a full smile out of James. His statement in reply was just as playful as Sam's. "Now that I REALLY think about it...I don't think we reached that point in this relationship yet. You could at least take me out to dinner. I'd at LEAST like to be wined and dined."Sam actually laughs. This guy doesn't seem to be as hard to be friends with as he probably thinks he is.





	1. Don't Bring Me Gifts

Another assignment done. The last one was a shapeshifter who also had a time travel ability. Definitely Sam's most interesting case yet. He's never met a mutant with such a strange combination of abilities.

All there's left to do now is finish the guy's paperwork. Sam yawns twice as he reads through the last page. He knows well he should get at least a little rest but...This is his favorite part. It's the last page. The page that confirms what was first wrong with the subject, then confirms how the person changed after his time under Sam's professional care.

The problems seemed to be that he suffered from a serious level of disassociation from malfunctions in his time control ability. He'd sometimes see himself out of body in other forms that he once took on and sometimes the hallucinations of "himself" get scary. He'd suffer from paranoia because of this due to the fact he couldn't tell what's real around him. Sometimes he'd shapeshift in his sleep and wake up mid transition and the pain of it keeps him on edge.

Sam sighs after he reads the section. Everytime he reads this section of the paperwork for finished assignments, reading the problems always gets to him a little. However, reading the end results always brings him out of that feeling of dread. He's always glad he helped as much as he could.

The end results always make him proud. He'd never leave a paitent alone to deal with their ailments no matter how hard it gets to help them manage them.

It makes him even angrier whenever he remembers the President's words on this facility distinctly when he came to the facility on the third day it was open to talk to Sam and the 3 other head doctors who keep this program running : _"You all and the rest of these doctors do whatever you think is gonna help these malfunctioning freaks so they don't become a potential threat to normal citizens."_

Sickening. Absolutely sickening.

While he was thinking, his train of thought is cut off by the sudden beeps of his desk phone. He stares at the blinking red dot that's waiting for him to press and accept the call for a moment. When he hears it Sam once again finds himself remembering that he's just so tired. He truly contemplates ignoring the call this time. It can't be that important or else they'd just knock on his door.

Of course he doesn't though. Besides, he loves the idea of being faced with a new mission. A new challenge.

He pushes the "answer" button. "Hello?" he says, trying to hide the exhaustion in his voice.

"Wilson? We have a new patient for you and it's time for his interview. You know the deal." replies the voice of one of the secretaries from the inpatient section of the building.

Sam pauses his reading, and pulls his reading glasses off his face. He can't lie, he's a bit shocked. It seems like his new assignments keep coming in faster and faster. He thinks maybe it's time to get another one of these facilities open.

Anyways, as of right now it seems like he's going to have to save reading the end results he wanted to review for later.

"No problem. I was just wrapping up some work here. What room will they be placed in?" Sam questions while hastily moving the papers he was reading to the side to put the paperwork for his inpatient orientation clipboard together.

"You'll be seeing this one in 239 B. It's down the hall right around the corner from the cafeteria. first just let me list the small specifics for you as is protocol for doctors who meet the new patients." The secretary announces then clears his throat as he reads the specifics for Sam to jot down on the first page of his orientation clipboard.

"Name is James Barnes. Male. Caucasian male. Age 22. Supernatural classification is werewolf. Omega werewolf. Weighs 178 pounds. Eyes are blue. Height is 5"6. The problems he's being checked in for today is anger issues and enjoyment of fear mongering."

Sam nods and thanks the secretary for the information before he hangs up and looks over what he wrote down. Sam immediately thinks of this as a case of deep rooted angst and self hate based off the combination of anger issues and fear mongering. Of course, this is just an educated guess based off his experience with these kinds of people. Sam has learned that in this line of work, don't ever expect that a case will be really easy to complete. Especially if you've haven't even got to know the patient yet.

You can never know just how complex a case can be. Sam was sure he would be reminded of that soon enough. So once Sam got all his paperwork together, he took out his evaluation forms, stuck them to his clipboard, walked out of his office and locked the door behind him.

Once he stepped out and began walking down the hall, he was reminded of the busy environment that surrounds him everyday outside of his quiet office. He makes glances towards the injured mutants being quickly wheeled past him on stretchers or wheelchairs. He hopes they accidentally injured themselves. It'd be a lot better than hearing that they were victims of hate crimes.

He then glances as he's walking at the interns and doctors who are working to put medicine trays together, the interns most likely checking with the doctors for accuracy. Sam smirks as a memory of when he was an intern in a hospital for humans while in med school. He remembers how much checking with the doctors for accuracy was so important for him. You never want to give the wrong medicine or wrong medicine dose amount to a patient.

As he walks past there the next thing that catches his attention was another doctor, who was talking to a patient. He slows his walking and leans against the wall on the opposite side from where they were standing. He smiles and watches for a moment as she passionately talks to a patient about ways to cope with a neurotypical person's toxic behavior towards the patient's illnesses.

The patient smiles as she can probably feel the doctor's genuine sympathy towards her feelings. Dr. Romanoff has a way of making people feel this way. Which is one reason she's one of his favorite colleagues. He can always appreciate such a genuinely kind (not to mention gorgeous...but that's a whole other thought he has sometimes.) person.

he's only there for about a minute before the conversation is over. He was just planning on watching for a moment but he guesses the conversation was just ending as he got there. Sam watches Dr. Romanoff give a gentle rub on the patient's shoulder as she tells her to have a nice day and to take care of herself.

When she turns around she was looking down at her clipboard, probably for her next assignment she has to handle before she looks up and smiles in delight and surprise as she sees Sam.

"You always tryna top me for the title of "Nicest Doctor" aren't you? Rude." Sam jokes, giving her one of his charming smiles.

She playfully rolls her eyes as they both laugh and she hugs him. "Wow, what have you been living under a rock or something? I been won that title!" She jokes back.

Sam sucks his teeth and makes a face of disbelief as they start walking down the hallway together. "Yeah you keep believing that. As if my actions didn't teach you everything about being kind that you know 'tasha!"

They laugh again as she playfully shoves him. "Whatever! So where are you are heading anyway? New patient?" she wonders.

Sam nods and glances at James Barnes' information that he wrote down again. "Yep. Gotta meet him in 239 B. Omega Werewolf."

"Omegas. Such beautiful and delicate people. raise them wrong though, like for example without love and care and they get ruthless though. So i'm guessing this is an anger thing?" Natasha analyses.

"Exactly. Anger issues and enjoyment of fear mongering to be exact." Sam tells her.

"Yep. Most likely symptoms of a wrong or lonely upbringing. Just a guess though." She says. Sam nods and thinks about it. As he does with every patient's case, He starts to feel a little sad about it. What if that was the case? He feels he should get something for the guy. The room is right near the cafeteria. He thinks he'll just stop there and get him something.

Sam does this for his patients almost all of the time. Literally the only times he doesn't is when it's specified they're going to be set up on a restricted diet.

Once they get to the section B hallway, They give each other a tight embrace again before saying goodbyes to each other. Sam watches her walk away and smiles to himself before walking down the hall.

He peaks at the large windows that shows the inside of all the rooms. He truly works for the best place. Every interview room looks so warm and welcoming. They're all designed to look like a beautiful living room in a nice house. Amazing bright colors, well thought out interior design probably done by professionals, T.Vs in every room with cable boxes to turn channels just in case they're waiting a while for a doctor to come interview them, the whole nine yards.

They definitely didn't get this hospital to be this lavish with the help of the government that barely supports it, that's for damn sure. It's the amazing donors that feels passionately about helping these mutants like Sam does. Also they're probably huge fans of their powers. Also like Sam is. If there were books that told amazing fictional stories of these people and their powers, preferably with lots of cool action illustrations, he'd definitely read them all. Sam thinks he'd call them "Comic Books". Maybe he'd invent that one day.

Sam realizes he's about to pass 239 B. He feels a twinge of excitement as he's about to glance upon the patient he's about to take on.

237, 238.... 239. There he is. Sam takes an uneven breath as he smiles while he looks through the two way mirror window, thankful he can see James, but James can't see him.

James looks like a charming young werewolf. Sam observes that instead of sitting on the lavish couch he moved the coffee table out of the way and is sitting crossed legged on the floor, an intense look of focus on his face as he watches a nature documentary.

He has brown shoulder length hair and piercing blue-grayish eyes. He's wearing gray Doc Martens, loose fitting skinny jeans, a few handmade looking leather string and bead bracelets on one arm, a red shirt with a big yellow star on it and a black hoodie.

James is sort of bouncing his legs while they're crossed and Sam watches his movements. Occasionally his mouth opens slightly when something on the screen is especially interesting. He also moves his hands through his hair a bit, slightly pulling at the ends and twirling it around his finger.

Once he was done watching him Sam almost didn't notice the plate that once held a chocolate cake from the cafeteria on it. Sam smirks to himself again as he takes his eyes away from the window to make that quick trip to the cafeteria. He knows what to get for James now.

When he's there, the smells hit his nose beautifully. Another really cool thing about this place is the cafeteria looks almost like a mini supermarket of sorts. full of all types of fast food and produce places. Kind of reminds him of Reading Terminal in Philadelphia when he visited there.

He gets to the dessert area and looks through the pre-sliced pieces of chocolate cake he tries to go for the most appealing looking one. Sam is extremely precise about picking out gifts. Like seriously, even if it's the smallest thing. He puts his heart into it.

He finds the nicest, biggest piece of chocolate cake he could see and purchases it. He also buys a small bottle of milk and water because he didn't see what James was drinking with the cake. So just in case James wants one or the other, he purchases that for him.

Sam returns with James' things back to the section B hallway and gets right back in front of 239 B. He looks into the room again and James is laying down on the floor on his back now, still looking at the T.V, but upside down. The poor thing is so bored looking now. Sam jokes inside his mind that it's time to end his misery and get this process started already.

He walks inside the room and at the sound of the door James' whole mood changes. He bolts upright and backs away from Sam to the nearest wall and crosses his legs, sitting in the same position Sam saw him sitting in earlier but this time with a look between a mean scowl and a scared expression.

Sam knows not to freak out. He stays calm and moves as he normally does, showing James he's just doing normal actions before communicating with him. James silently watches his every move. He looks as Sam takes the empty chocolate cake tray and replaces it with the new one. He then puts down the water and the milk right next to them.

They have a silent stare off for a moment and right before Sam was about to smile and greet him James shocks him by speaking first. "....Hi." He speaks timidly with a neutral expression.

Sam winds up giving him that smile and greeting him back. "Hi James. I'm sorry for the long wait. I bought you a gift. I couldn't help but noticing you like chocolate cake." He says, opening the plastic lid of the cake's container. James looks at the offering but doesn't move. He looks Sam up and down. The angry expression returns.

"Yeah I see that. Listen, don't buy me gifts." James announces quietly but sternly with a smug expression, hugging his knees up to his chest and leaning his cheek on them.

Sam nods in absolute understanding of how he may feel at the moment and closes the lid. He's in no way mad at James for this statement. It's common to feel that way especially if you don't easily trust people or hate places like this.

He flips a page on his clipboard and writes down information about their first interaction before he responds. "Hey, you're absolutely right. I'm sorry if I made you feel like I was trying to force a friendship on you. We're both adults here and this is a professional relationship. I should treat it like such. I'll put these things away and we can start over okay?" Sam says as he puts the items on a counter in the room far away from the space where they're talking at.

James unfolds his legs and actually stands up. He looks confused at the response but nods. "Okay." is all he says. He keeps eye contact with Sam as he slowly walks to the couch and sits.

Sam keeps his smile and sits on the couch opposite of him. He takes his pen back out of his lab coat and begins the interview. "So James, you want to remind me why you had to be admitted here?"

James sighs and answers. "Anger Issues." He states.

Sam notices he keeps his responses short. Another thing people with trust issues usually do. Sam writes that down on James' information page. "Is that all? I'm just curious because usually people with that issue are just asked to go to group sessions for anger management." Sam replies, trying to coax him to admit to fear mongering.

"Please move on from this part. I know that you know everything." James says then sighs annoyedly, running a few fingers through his hair again.

Sam nods in agreement. He sees that James wants things to be as straight forward as possible. So he does move on.

"You're right James, I apologize once again. I do know a bit as the information was given to me by a front desk secretary, and that information was given to him by your case manager. Want me to read what he said to me?" Sam offers.

Once again, James was confused by his reaction and his expression returned to neutral. His eyes dart around a bit as if he's thinking of what's being said. He crosses his arms. "Yeah." he replies back.

Sam smirks again as he writes down that James seems a bit confused by calm reactions to his slight aggressiveness. He flips back to the first page and crosses his legs as he begins to read. "Well it says here that your name is James Barnes, you're 22, 178 pounds the last time you were weighed, your height is 5"6, your eyes are blue, you identify as a male, a caucasian male, you're an omega werewolf, and the reason you're here today is anger issues and your love of fear mongering."

James nods and tucks one side of his hair behind his ear. Sam notices he has piercings. Hmm. He didn't see that earlier. That looks nice on him.

When James didn't say anything else, he continues speaking. "So, you like putting fear into people's hearts huh?" He wonders, raising his eyebrow.

This actually makes James smile. Just a little though. "Easiest way to be respected, I think." He states matter of factly. "Like how people's religious gods puts fear into them so the believers wouldn't dare do wrong by them."

Sam flips back to the information page and writes that belief down. "So are you a god?" Sam asks casually.

"Oh...No? I'm just a normal creature. I'd just like people, especially alphas, to fear me like one." James answers.

"I see. So, do you feel disrespected as an omega and feel like you have to assert yourself?" Sam guesses, trying to see if past things he heard from omegas fit into James' feelings.

"No actually. I'd actually rather be an omega than an alpha."

Sam writes that down. It's not the first time he's heard that from an omega before, it's said more often than anyone thinks. sometimes, the reasons are different though.

"Why is that if you don't mind me asking?"

James thinks about it for a minute. The way his eyebrows furrow as he thinks about it shows that it pains him to even think about why. Sam waits patiently for him to talk.

"It's a weird feeling to explain." James states.

Sam clicks his pen and makes an interested sound. "Try Me."

"You know I shouldn't even be telling you, my case manager or anyone, anything. Professional or not, I don't know you like that." He adds just to make sure Sam gets how he usually is on this whole talking thing.

"So i'm hearing that you have no one to talk to?" Sam wonders.

"I have a crew that I trust. They're still out there while I'm in this place. I'm not a total loner." James pauses a moment, thinks for a second, then continues. "Wasn't I supposed to be telling you something? You're going off topic."

"I thought you might've wanted me to go off topic. It seems like you're not too comfortable talking about it right now. Do you want to tell the story to me that bad?" Sam says in a light hearted tone, trying to ease the tension or sadness.

This actually got a full smile out of James. His statement in reply was just as playful as Sam's. "Now that I _REALLY_ think about it...I don't think we reached that point in this relationship yet. You could at least take me out to dinner. I'd at _LEAST_ like to be wined and dined."

Sam actually laughs. This guy doesn't seem to be as hard to be friends with as he probably thinks he is. 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Up Next : Sam invents Comics!...Okay not really, but what a nice concept. What's REALLY up next is gonna contain more content about Sam's personal life outside his work.
> 
> \-----------------------------------------
> 
> anyways my tumblr is narcrogers.tumblr.com. you can take a look at my edits and other stuff there if you want.
> 
> DISCLAIMER : I am a writer with mental illnesses and this story is not meant to romanticize or purposely misrepresent any mental illness.


	2. Finally Going Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Happy Easter Guys! I hope you enjoy this!

"The thing about Alphas is, the power seems so uncontainable. I once saw one of em rip a car door off and throw it so far out of sight in another direction like it was nothing, to save someone who's car was on fire. Then maybe a month after that, I got injured pretty bad in the woods after a fight, I mean I was slowly leaking blood everywhere. One of em must have smelled me. A real nice guy. Name was Derek. He found me and ripped his own shirt off to wrap my wound, carried and ran me 2 miles in like 7 minutes to the nearest hospital. It was amazing."

Sam listened with intrigue as James decided he would tell the story of why he'd rather be an omega. While what he heard so far was amazing, one thing just didn't make sense to him. "I'm sorry James that I don't get it, but they all just sound like nice guys. Why wouldn't you want to be them?"

James looks Sam directly in the eyes for the first time since he's been in the room with him. His expression is sad as he speaks. "I'm fully aware of my anger. I'm fully aware of my uncontrollable impulses. I can see and feel every destructive thing I love to do. I know I'd become evil with that power. It would literally be the death of me. I'd be killed by some hero eventually. It'd probably be that Derek guy. The thought of it both thrills me and terrifies me."

Sam returns his sad expression and nods as he writes down what James is feeling. Then right before he's about to respond, he doesn't yet. He mumbles a "hold on" before he stands up and walks over to the counter where he put the chocolate cake, milk and water. Sam grabs them all and puts them back down on the table in front of James before sitting back down.

James looks at him in confusion before staring at all the items for a moment. He gives Sam a hard glare that screams "what's this about?".

When Sam sees the look he grins and hold up his hands apologetically. "I thought you needed the comfort while you talk. I know when I'm opening up, sometimes I can barely do it without some of my favorite comfort food. I just figured maybe you were the same."

"Lucky fuckin guess." James mumbles bitterly before taking the bottled water and taking a few sips. "I'm gonna save the cake for later. I don't like being watched while I eat. Oh and you can have the milk. I barely drink milk."

Sam can't help the smug expression that forms on his face. He knew James would accept his offerings sooner or later. Then, He knows James just said he doesn't like being watched but Sam can't help but notice how fast he chugs that water. Sam can see his chest rise and fall a bit as James finishes.

"You want another water before you continue?" He asks James with concern.

James gives him an annoyed look for a moment before his expression softens and he quietly replies. "Yeah."

"No problem then. I'll be right back." Sam says with a warm smile as he stands again. He's almost out the door before James calls his name. Sam slowly steps back, closes the door and turns to him.

"Yeah?"

"You're going to the cafeteria right? What's that cafeteria like? My case manager bought my first cake for me so... I didn't actually go to see it with him. They just signed me up and planted me in this room."

Sam gets this sort of analytical look on his face, then takes a risk by walking over to James and sitting down next to him. Besides slowly moving over as close to the opposite side of the big couch as he could, James actually didn't react much.

"You're a foodie huh?" Sam guesses. It's not exactly some normal and common thing for someone in his care to ask about what the cafeteria looks like.

James gently pulls and twirls a piece of his hair around his finger, not looking at Sam as he speaks. "If you must know, I do love cooking when I can. I can make a lot of cool stuff too. Things you've seen on cooking shows, cookbooks, cooking magazines, or whatever. I'm pretty good."

Sam gets a surprised look on his face. "That's a pretty cool hobby to have! Takes a lot of practice."

James nods in agreement. "You're goddamn right it does. Burned myself so many times when I was practicing tryna cook like Gordon Ramsay or somethin'." He says, then they both laugh a little.

After the moment has passed Sam gets up again, heading for the door. "Come on. A chef like you has got to see this amazing cafeteria we got here." He says. James rolls his eyes at Sam's statement before getting up then they're both out the door.

\------------------------------  
"It's not far, only around this corner." Sam announces as they walk down the hallway.

"I can smell a bit of the food already. Wow. Ode to Zuni Roast Chicken with Fennel Panzanella. This place has got some nice taste I haven't recognized in a while. I'm impressed." James admits in an unimpassioned tone.

Sam is impressed himself. "Utilizing your werewolf since of smell like that? Nice. What are some other things you can smell?"

Sam is a psychologist who is an expert on supernatural beings. He knows all things werewolves can use their sense of smell for. He just wants to see if James is aware of the positivity of his abilities instead of thinking too much about the scary features like he admitted earlier.

"Well it would take a minute to name em all but there's things like sickness, fear, blood, and what drugs are nearby. You know, like a airport canine unit? That's my favorite one. Not that I do drugs, it's just nice to know if they're nearby so I can assess if a situation or place is dangerous or not." James replies.

Sam nods and thinks over his response. Not exactly that positive of a response but at least James doesn't seem to think of his abilities as a burden. Then he notices a possible pattern with a few things James has said to him so far.

"So you like to be as far away from danger as possible?" He wonders.

"Exactly. I have to survive out there. It's hard when there's not only some alphas that kill us for sport, but there's humans that want us all dead too. There's no room for having my guard down." James admits.

"Thats an understandable feeling James. I can't help but feel like the feeling is there for a specific reason though." Sam concludes as they finally come to the cafeteria entrance. Sam moves his hand in an "after you" motion towards it and lets James walk past.

James sighs as he walks inside, taking a look around. "Maybe. You're the psychology guy. Figure me out." He responds, half distracted.

Sam definitely takes him up on that. He looks around a bit "Well, first of all I feel like that its kind of a contradiction to love being feared yet you don't get involved in anything dangerous. I feel like that's a lie. As a matter of fact, you just might be trying to confuse me about you on purpose so I can't figure anything out about you in order to try to help you later." He states then ends with a smile to let James know he's not upset with him for that.

James furrows his eyebrows in thought a moment then turns to Sam's direction, crosses his arms, and adjusts his posture defiantly. He stammers a bit at first with what he wanted his immediate response to be, but he gets something out eventually. "Ohhh so you know everything, don't you? That's so cool! How many obviously correct educated guesses do you make a day?" James states sarcastically.

"At least three." Sam replies with a wink before walking ahead of James who speechlessly follows along as they walk towards the drinks section.

\-------------------------------

"I didn't actually say you were right you know." James mumbles from a few feet behind Sam who's paying for the waters (and some more cake at the last minute) he's buying for them.

Sam at first just giggles to his statement as he's handing the money to the cashier and saying thank you to her. Still not saying anything yet, He turns around and holds out the bag of items for James to take.

"Thank you." James mumbles before reluctantly taking the bag.

"You're welcome. Now you say I'm not correct? Feel like explaining while I finally show you that cafeteria kitchen or would you rather wait until we're back in the orientation room?" Sam asks. He still has it in the back of his mind that James struggles with feeling safe from what he said about keeping his guard up earlier, but Sam would rather leave that thought for when he has his clipboard.

James shrugs and slowly starts walking towards the direction where he can smell the food. "Sure, I mean I told you a lot already, might as well tell you more."

"You've only told me literally one deep feeling you have, James."

"Doc, what did I tell you earlier? I don't usually do the whole talking about myself openly thing. You should be lucky you got even that out of me. I guess I was having a good day because I felt kinda good relaxing in that room while I was waiting. I get all talkative when I actually feel good."

"Oh? Well, thank you for still feeling good enough to talk to me. So uh, I see you must know where it is automatically. When I first started here, I could smell the food but it was so weird trying to actually find the cafeteria area." Sam states as they walk through the huge cafeteria on their way to the kitchen.

"Well doc I am the one with the super sense of smell here. One whiff of something and I can find it no matter how far or hidden."

"Right, I figured that. So uh, about the fear thing..."

"Oh, yeah. I thought you were changing the subject to make me comfortable or whatever like you did earlier. Anyways, just plain and simple, it's just my brain I guess. Sometimes I'm in the mood for  
danger and other times I watch out for it, avoid it, and I'm terrified of it. It probably doesn't make sense to you. You gotta have my mind to really get it I guess."

Sam actually nods his head in understanding before he responds. Maybe to an ignorant person who's never learned about Mental Illness in their life, sure they wouldn't get it. Sam is a kind professional however, he gets how chemical imbalances work.

"Oh no James that's actually feasible now that I think of it. Someone with chemical imbalances can be susceptible to mood shifts like those. Usually not with violence related things though. Usually like an interest in a few hobbies would change on and off. That's okay though, you're here and I can help with that." Sam states, mentally kicking himself for forgetting such a basic thing. He blames it on barely getting sleep.

"Well I'm glad you at least understand it. I know it's unhealthy but after all that's happened to me I got to keep it in my mind to make sure I can both be dangerous and avoid danger. I just can't afford not to be feared."

As soon as James said that everything about him started truly making sense to Sam, and the thought also saddened Sam deeply. Very deeply. He feels so hard for this man. Damn he's gonna need a few drinks after today. "I see. My thing is though, these sound like normal emotions to have after trauma. What did you do so terrible that you got assigned to be here?"

There was silent a moment before Sam got his reply. "That final fight I had at my place was the last straw. Seems they got sick of my attitude."

"Wait, your house? You have people that watch you at your house?"

"No, I mean my halfway house. You know about what that is right?"

"Oh, well of course. There's a lot of people here who come from a halfway house with that same situation. One too many fights or breaking some kind of rule too many times. You can meet them here if you want. Make some new friends?" Sam asks hopefully. He knows in addition to a person needing therapy, having others who understand the person can help just as much.

James contorts his face sadly. He looks Sam in the eyes and takes a deep breath. "Yeah um, Nah. That's not gonna go so well with me. I don't have problems making friends, I have a problem keeping em. We could talk for months and months, start a "best friend" kind of thing and all, then? I just stop. I lose energy, confidence or...i don't know, something else. I just lose my passion for the whole friendship thing."

Sam sees the cafeteria's chef's kitchen in their sights as they walk and before they get any further he tells James to wait and stops them.

Then there goes his heart breaking again. Sam believes he's too sensitive for this job. He even "cares way too hard" according to some of his colleagues. Whatever though because damn he'd be lying if he said his heart didn't break so hard for James since learning these bits about him.

Sam puts on his softest, calmest voice. "Well James, maybe you just need a friend that keeps up with you. Knows that you get just like that and will put in an effort to make sure you're okay."

James does agree with him. "That crew of friends I told you about earlier? They're like that. All three of em'. I love the guys. Yet I barely talk to em. Weird right?"

"Not at all. One thing we gotta work on getting you used to is accepting your feelings. Nothing's wrong with your sad emotions. All that's wrong is how you manage and regulate them, you understand?"

James nods. That sounds easy enough to understand, but "managing his emotions"? It feels so strongly to him like something he can't accomplish. It's always been hard. "Yeah. I get you. Thanks." James pauses and then he has another thought. "You know, I had one doc before you. He believed in tough love kind of therapy. Barely gave my thoughts a chance, made me feel like I was doing nothing but acting crazy and willpower could change me or something. Thanks for listening and understanding is all I'm saying."

Sam frowns in deep concern. "You're welcome of course but... how long has that been going on before you left?"

"Well I didn't actually start therapy until I got my case manager about 4 years ago. So yeah about that long."

"I see. Alright, so he's definitely one of the sources of your emotional stress. When you're done being under my care and you start taking what's prescribed to you, please promise me you'll make sure you never deal with any treatment like that again, always get out it and tell your case manager when you feel uncomfortable. Okay?"

James folds his arms and nods in agreement as a response. He just doesn't know what to say and the feeling of someone being so interested in his safety is both calming and alarming. He's a bit uncomfortable with all this concern right now so it's time for him to change the subject. "Once again doc, I understand you. So uh, you gonna take me to meet the chefs and see the kitchen now?"

Sam can't help the smile that comes back to his face. "Of course. I'd hate to keep the master chef waiting. Right through those doors there. Let's go." He says and walks ahead of James.

"You and these jokes are gonna bother the hell outta me." James admits as he follows.

\--------------------------------  
"Hey everyone!" Sam greets jubilantly as he walks into the kitchen doors with James following shyly behind. The five chefs and Head Chef currently working all stop what they're all doing and smile in his presence as they greet him back then crowd around him. Sam has quite the representation here. James is beginning to see that.

"What can we do for you Dr. Wilson? Gotta make it quick! Got a lunch rush coming soon!" The head chef greets playfully as he excuses himself to step in between his chefs, then shaking Sam's hand. Ah, yet another gorgeous friend he gets excited around. Then again, everyone loves Chef Rogers. He's sure of it. The chef has quite the representation around here himself.

Sam can feel his skin blushing as he smiles with his reply. "Chef Rogers. Still has that nice ring to it. Anyways, I wanted to show you one of my new patients. This James Barnes, he has a strong interest In cooking and wanted to see the chefs that make the food here."

When James actually looks up from where he was staring at the floor to look at who Sam wanted him to meet, they caught each other's eyes and looked surprised. The chef was the first to speak. "James? Or do I still get to call you Bucky? I know it's been a while."

James shakes his head. "Yeah I'm still Bucky, sir."

Sam of course has to know what this is about. "Woah, how do you guys know each other?"

Chef Rogers chuckles. "You want to tell him, Bucky?"

James smiles a second then gets hit with regret when he recalls the memory. He looks to Sam. "About 7 years ago I was a student In his cooking class he used have for free to teach troubled mutants at a rec center around where I used to live. It's because of him I started loving cooking. I stopped when I started therapy."

After James explains, Sam looks to Chef Rogers in shock. "So is this the Bucky you've been telling me about!" He looks to James. "James, I don't think there's barely a day that goes by that this guy doesn't worry about you. He even said since the day you left, He'd pray everyday that you were safe."

James feels his eyes get heavy. He blinks away a few stray tears. He smirks at Sam then looks to the chef. "That's real nice to know sir. I'll have to remember that."

"Well? You gonna hug me or stare at me?" Chef Rogers says softly and James could barely hide his excitement to see him as he rushes into the chef's open arms. They embrace for a long moment until James is the one to let go. James wipes the last of his stray tears away and looks up at him. "Could I help you guys In the lunch rush? You know I'm good enough to do it." He asks hopefully and it lights a spark in Sam's heart that makes him so happy for James.

The chef laughs a little. "Not today kiddo. You're here to talk to Dr. Wilson today. When you have free time before or after appointments okay? If i'm here Dr Wilson will escort you to me." He promises him.

James smiles excitedly in response. Already excited for the day. "No problem. It was good to see you Chef." He says, sticking out his hand. They shake hands and Chef Rogers gives him a pat on the back. "You too Buck. Please make sure to at least pop in to see me before your appointment or when you're about to leave one okay? You know I missed seeing you in a kitchen with me."

Sam reaches to shake hands with Chef Rogers too and they smile towards each other as they shake too. "Don't worry, I'll make sure he sees you. It's like seeing you really helps him out a lot."

"Good! Don't you be a stranger to me either, Wilson. You should definitely come around to see me more too." He states to Sam in a sort of tone that his mind tells him to immediately remember and cling to but he calms himself. He knows how the Chef is a player type. Sam's not gonna let him in that easy....at least maybe not so soon. He swears he can feel his high moral barrier breaking down more and more everytime he even thinks about him.

Sam decides it's time to go before he melts into a puddle. He hopes his voice doesn't sound as nervous as he thinks."Oh yeah don't worry. I'll take you up on that Chef. So uh, James? I apologize about the fact you couldn't get the time here you really wanted today, but you know you'll be coming back a lot so that's good right?"

"Don't worry it's fine doc. Yeah I'll be back. I'll see you around guys, see ya Chef Rogers." James announces with one last smirk of admiration.

"I'll see you guys around. Now get out. We got work to do." Mr Rogers jokes with a smile. Sam and James chuckle at that and turn to leave.

\----------------------------------  
They're finally on their way back to the orientation room. When they get inside and get settled in, Sam tells James to give him a second as he writes down all the new information he learned about James today.

Not wanting to just sit in plain silence however, Sam decides to poke a little fun at James again. "So.. what's the deal with the chef James? You like him? like really like him?"

Sam was ready to tell James about what a player Chef Rogers is when the answer isn't what he expected at all. "Hell no, he's like a father to me. Don't get me wrong he's handsome and kind. I'm not saying the guy is ugly or rude at all. I just don't see him that way."

Sam hums in response then it was silent for a few seconds between them again. James gets another thought. "Oh, and this is off subject but, Also I just feel like..." James starts then trails off.

Sam raises an eyebrow as he was listening then James' talking stops. He stops writing from a moment and looks up from his notebook. "like...what?" Sam wonders.

James struggles with the words, not sure if he believes them fully but they're on his mind. "Oh just, see how much having a better psychologist for even a day made me feel okay today. I even got to see my old mentor. It was a good day. Been a while since I've felt a bit worry free like this."

"Well good! I'm really happy you feel like a weight has been lifted!" Sam praises him happily. He continues to write. Once he finishes getting everything that he's learned about James together it's time to get back to business. He figured he won't press him more on the whole "being scared to be  
like an alpha" thing anymore for today. The guy did just say he was feeling nice.

About now is the time where Sam takes the patient to the the living area. "Alright James, I've written down everything you've told me so far today. You won't have to come back to talk to me until the day after tomorrow."

"Sounds good."

"Now we have to take you to the living area of this place where you'll be staying. I assume your case manager has told you you'll be staying here so you already agreed to that?"

"Yep. trust me I remember. Took the guy 3 days to convince me to want to stay somewhere like this."

"Well I'm glad you decided to be here in the end. Not only is this the world's most amazing care facility for mutants but you got the best doctor looking out for you now."

"You're a real cocky guy huh?" James says with a smile.

"Sure if you want to call it that. They don't give all the rewards I have to bad doctors though." Sam states with a wink then he's up and headed towards the door again.

"Hey, I'd say you deserve it. Like I said, you've made me feel more okay then I've had in months. Don't think you've "cured" me or some bullshit like that though. It don't just go away." James says then gets up to follow after him.

"I know James. It never goes away but it can get better. Right?" Sam responds, locking the door behind them then they're both walking towards the rooms area.

"I don't know yet. Guess we'll just have to see." James responds giving him a pat on the shoulder. Sam appreciates the gesture, shows how much he's getting closer to him. Just a few hours ago James would be afraid to sit near Sam, or even look at him. Just shows how much of a friendly nature James has, but he's just been through a lot is all.

\-----------------------------------  
It's been about 2 hours since Sam has last seen James since he dropped him off in his living space. Now he's back at his office sitting with Dr. Romanoff, about to finally go home for the evening. She's there helping him go over James' psyche. They've already went over everything that James has said to Sam, now they're getting to everything that happened when Sam and James parted.

"So they got him sector 2 if I'm correct right? Sector 1 is for suicidal patients, Sector 2 is for anger management patients, Sector 3 is for patients who can't see reality or have a hard time with it like schizophrenics or ones with schizo-affective disorder, and Sector 4 is another living sector like the others, but plus a physical ailments hospital for brutally damaged patients."

Sam looks over James' apartment sign up form in his records for confirmation. "Yep. Sector 2. Floor 3. Room 314."

"How did he react in there? Did he like his room?"

"Yeah very much actually. He didn't think it'd be as nice in there as it was in the orientation room."

"Well good. I hope he's not feeling too lonely right now. Enclosed spaces without anyone can make some omegas anxious."

"Really 'Tasha? Putting nervous thoughts like that in me when I'm trying to be out of here? Now you're making me want to go check on him." Sam says as a joke, but he's not sure how much of a joke it is.

"Nah, from what you told me James seems like a really tough guy. Not only that but I remembered that being alone in that orientation room for a while didn't scare him. He was fine. Right?"

Sam remembers that too. "Oh, yeah. He was fine then so he'd be okay now. I hope so at least. I want him to feel okay. The guy did say he had a good day." He lets out a sigh. "Can we get out of here? Maybe grab the chef and get a few drinks before we go home? I know he's still cleaning up down there with his team. It's only 7pm."

Dr Romanoff laughs at him. "Don't worry Sam he's still there! We'll invite your precious boyfriend along too okay? I know you like... need him there or something."

Sam fights back both the smile and the butterflies in his stomach the best he could. "Oh please! If you must know he invited me to hang out with him a lot more. I just figured I'd take him up on that like I promised."

"He invites anyone he likes to hang out with him. We know what happens after that."

"Yeah whatever, ain't nothing happening tonight. I'm tired as hell."

"Alright... be careful though. I'm telling you the man can get you out of your clothes before you even know it."

Sam doesn't say anything, just gives her a suspicious look.

"What! It was just one time. A long time ago. We're over it now Sam. I promise you that you can have your boyfriend."

Sam laughs, rolls his eyes and gets up from the desk. Definitely time to just head down there before Natasha makes him think about seriously considering it. "Will you stop that! I'm just shocked you had a piece of him too apparently...was he good?" He tried to ask the last part as nonchalantly as humanly possible.

"Oh definitely, He's the best Sam..." She convinces him in a jokingly seductive tone, making his skin warm even more. He didn't forget about how he likes her too.

He laughs it off. "Yeah alright that's nice now get away from me!" He exclaims then heads out the door with Dr. Romanoff laughing and following quickly behind.

  

  

 

 


	3. Thoughts Of A Troubled Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while since Sam had a drink so he goes out with some friends. Steve worries him a little about James' past and even though that's on his mind a bit, it doesn't stop him for a day off he has set up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So welcome back guys. Who's ready for people to take care of Sam a little for once? I know I am. Enjoy!

Sam needs this tonight. A bar around the corner from here apparently has some of the best Irish cream Steve has ever had, so they're all going there. Either he loves it a lot or he still remembers how much Sam enjoys creamy flavors. Sam tries not to think too deep into it and just laughs along as he walks in between them down the sidewalk.

It's pretty quiet and late at night. The only sounds around are their feet as they walk and the sounds of their shared conversation. It was near 10:00pm when they left because they had to wait for Chef Rogers to throughly clean the kitchen. "If there's one thing I do perfect in life, It's keep where I make my food clean." He loves to make that clear everytime someone says he takes too long. Well honestly, Sam just remembers him saying that once before.

They turn the corner and Steve points out the the big minimalist style sign with a black background and glowing yellow letters : YellowJacket's Bar and Grill.

Oh this bar? There's five bars down this long block and Sam's glad they all decided on one he's most comfortable with. Sam's been here many times before but somehow never noticed they had cream drinks. Maybe it's because he usually doesn't do specialty drinks.

Steve opens the door for them both and lets them walk through, giving Sam a soft pat on the back before he walks behind them. Once they all get settled at a table right in the middle of the bar, Sam looks around. He just loves to observe the people around him, maybe wonder what some of the people are like when you meet them. Sam's a very curious person.

As he looks around he remembers that one reason he loves this place is the quality of the customers. Mostly calm and friendly average citizens and an array of people who look like Doctors, Lawyers, CEO's, etc. He finds it calming to be around a bunch of people like this as long as nothing chaotic is going on.

He was apparently deep into his own thoughts because it took Natasha gently nudging his shoulder and calling his name twice to get him to snap out of it.

"Sorry... Yes?"

She laughs a little at his startled tone, then rubs his forearm affectionately. "We wanted to know what drink you wanted! Got any ideas?"

"Nah let me look really quick. Sorry about that." Sam responds before he picks up a menu. He's really just skimming the menu because he truly has no idea. He does this for a few seconds and was about to put the menu down and just go for something strong and simple like whiskey until he gets the idea to just ask Steve because he always knows what's good the best in a place when they all go out.

"So I'm kinda stumped here chef, I don't usually get anything special when I come here. What do you think?"

"Oh well like I said this place has the best Irish Cream! They use Bailey's! You still heavily into cream flavors?"

So he does remember that? Sam would have never guessed Steve would remember such a small detail that he told him once like a year ago. Butterflies immediately appear in Sam's stomach and he laughs nervously, slowly putting the menu down and giving Steve his full attention.

"Definitely! I saw the Baileys drinks in the menu but I was feeling kind of picky about it because I never had cream alcohol. I figured it'd just taste super artificial and not like cream at all."

"Nah it's not bad honestly. As a matter of fact I'm surprised Natasha didn't tell you the story of her 30th birthday party. Then you would have known just how amazing it was by now." Steve states matter of factly, making sure to not look towards Natasha to see her shocked, open mouth expression.

"I was wondering why you weren't saying anything over there! So...You hiding something that you'd like to tell me about now?" Sam asks her teasingly. He was at her 30th birthday party... when did this happen?

"Oh please he's over exaggerating! I didn't know Baileys was that strong! Sam, I had 3 tall glasses of something the bartender suggested called a Bailey's Shiver at the venue where my party was and it really had me stumbling and I passed out at the end of the night okay! Steve had to drive me home and all that!" Natasha exclaims while laughing.

Bringing up the story makes them all laugh a moment then when it dies down Sam still has one question in mind. "I remember you trying a few things and not liking them, then saying you couldn't be a drinker if all alcohol tastes so terrible! So I'm wondering...where was I when this happened?"

Natasha and Steve both pause a moment to think then it was Steve who remembered first. "Oh! Sam that was late after almost everyone left! I was one of the last left there with her. It was me, her, Natasha's sister, and 3 of her friends I don't remember."

Natasha laughs and then it's her turn to cut in."Yeah Sam I now I remember you had to rush out maybe 2 hours before that because one of your patients was having a breakdown and crying for you so the facility called you. Then after I got my hangover down a bit the next morning I remembered I haven't heard from you, then tried to call you and you didn't answer! Had me worried sick!" She states, playfully slapping his arm.

Sam smiles, nods and apologizes. She's right, He did leave the party alone while it was pretty late at night. He can't believe he doesn't remember that though. Hell, it's normal though, he's had a lot of other patients added onto his mind since Natasha's 30th birthday party. He'd remembers patients when they're bought up in conversation easily however, he now notices. "When it comes to my patients being hurt I swear I throw everything else out the window. Especially my own safety."

Natasha points a finger at him. "I know and you have really got to stop that. There's nothing wrong with showing care the way you do. I show care that way too. It's just how much you put others before yourself that worries me Sam. Right Steve?"

Steve nods in agreement and softly rubs his hand into Sam's shoulder. Fuck, it's such a soft yet strong, big hand massaging him halfway like he needs. He tries to disguise the deep sigh of pleasure that escapes him. It worked because they heard it, but passed it off as annoyance over them talking about his feelings. "Yeah Sam, I have to admit it's a little worrisome the way you run around. You barely get any rest."

He looks into Steve's eyes and gives him an appreciative smile then looks to Natasha and puts his hand over hers. "Look guys, I know. I'm gonna work on that tonight once we get out of here. I'm going right to bed and I'm gonna take a day off tomorrow I swear. Okay?"

Natasha and Steve look towards each other for a second like proud parents who just made a breakthrough with their unruly child. Natasha praises him. "Sounds good Sam. Seriously I swear it's like you take maybe 5 days off a month. You're one of the head doctors at our facility! You have enough power to take more days off than that I'm sure."

Sam just has to laugh at that. "Alright! Alright! I promise I'll be relaxing more often. You both happy now? Can I get your suggestion of what Bailey's drink to get now Steve?"

"Very happy Sam. Very." Natasha says with a teasing smile.

"Yeah Sam that'll do until you fuck up with self care again." Steve begins to say with a wink. "Now, after that story tonight I think you'd better try some Bailey's Shivers yourself! What do you think?" He adds.

"Yeah, I need this tonight. Fuck it I'll have a few. A few of 'em might affect me much less." Sam says towards Natasha with his own teasing smile. She just jokingly huffs and rolls her eyes. Sam really loves his friends. A lot.

  
\-------------------------------------

  
It's about 2:00am now and 3 tall glasses of Bailey's Shivers later, Sam could seriously use that rest now. Fuck, he has got to get off his creme flavor addiction for good now. Then again, he's thinking about buying at least 2 whole bottles of the stuff after tonight. Steve and Natasha were right. It's so good.. so fucking good.

He's supposed to be focusing on making sure his friends can successfully help him up the stairs. His head is everywhere else except in full reality right now, however. All he knows is he can still taste the warm, strong cream taste on his tongue and all his thoughts are as warm and fuzzy as his body feels. With Steve wrapping both arms around Sam's abdominal area and Natasha holding firmly onto his arm, That could be adding to that warm and fuzzy feeling too.

They manage to travel up Sam's walkway and get to his door. He's already given both Steve and Natasha keys to his house so they don't have to fumble around in Sam's pockets for his keys. Since Steve is supporting most of Sam's weight, Natasha gets her key out and opens the door. They turn on the living room light and safely get Sam to the couch. Now it's time for a game plan to make sure sam is as comfortable as possible after they leave.

They get the idea to first run up to his bed and get him a comforter. Steve turns to go upstairs while Natasha goes into the kitchen to get a few water bottles and looks around in his cabinets until she finds his pain pill stash. If Sam wouldn't have joked about his migraines and how he had a whole cabinet he keeps pills in, she wouldn't have found them easily.

She returns with two water bottles and some Motrin and puts them both on the table in front of Sam. Steve was already back kneeling next to Sam talking quietly.

"Steve?...Steve..I wanna take 2 days off. Can I...Need...mayb-maybe 2 days." Sam slurs at Steve who's just smiling and massaging one of Sam's shoulders again.

"Of course Sam, take all the time you need okay? you're officially off duty now." Steve assures him.

Sam gasps in surprise like Steve just told him life changing information. "Oh! Oh okay that is just...the nicest thing...nice! you're so nice!" Sam exclaims happily. Natasha and Steve cant help but giggle a little. Sam sees Natasha back so now it's her turn. "'Tasha! Hey Tash...wh-where have you been? One of my bestiesss."

First Natasha just says "awww" lowly because seriously? Sam's more adorable than usual right now. All drunk and happy, nestled under a huge blanket while smiling and saying all this amusing stuff. She comes to kneel at his side next to Steve. "I only ran into the kitchen Sam! To get you that stuff righhhttt there in front of you okay? We want you to take a pill and drink that water in the morning."

"Oh! Thanksss. I will Tash-Tash!"

"Tash-Tash..." Steve repeats quietly to Natasha and they giggle quietly again.

Then Steve has something to add. "I'm gonna write you a note explaining everything that happened tonight and I'll be back over at 8am to make you some breakfast before I go to work." Steve says but he knows Sam won't really fully process it.

"Okay..." Sam mumbles sleepily. He's halfway to passed out by now. They decide to stand up and back away not saying anything else, so he can fall asleep. They mumble quietly to each other about making sure Sam has everything he needs tonight. Once they check that everything is okay, they leave, letting Sam finally get some sleep.

\---------------------------------------

Well as predicted, the waking up wasn't as much of a peaceful feeling as the sleep. As soon as Sam opened his eyes everything in his head region hurt. Then his muscles felt stiff as he sat up. The tiny bit of sunrise coming through the window is too damn bright for his taste.

He looks down at himself and sees he's still fully clothed. He glances up to the table and sees the blurry shape of two bottles of water. He blinks a few times until his vision is a bit better then notices the small bottle of pain medicine and a note written next to it. He'll get to that in a minute. All he knows is he needs this medicine.

He groans at the stiffness he feels in his arm as he reaches out for the first water bottle. He chugs that down to give his body some hydration. He feels a tiny bit better already, but not by much. He picks up the second water bottle and takes 2 pills. Now to wait for that to set in.

He stands up to try to walk to the kitchen but standing up too fast made the headache worse. He sits back down. He remembers trying those Bailey's drinks and wants to have that feeling of regret most get from drinking too much but honestly, they were just too good. Once he feels better he'll be in the mood for maybe just one more glass.

For now, It's time to figure out some things. First, what that piece of paper on the table says. He picks it up. It's a letter from Steve.

"Hey doc! This is just a quick run-down of last night so you can remember in case you struggle to do so. We went out to YellowJacket's Bar and Grill and you had quite a few of this cream drink me and Tash suggested and you got wasted! We didn't have as much to drink as you so we drove you home, put you on the couch, gave you everything you would need in the morning, and I'm coming back at 8:00am to cook you some breakfast. You'll seriously need some good food in you after that night. Anyways, don't forget you're taking 2 days off! We better not see your ass at work! - With Love, Steve and Natasha."

Sam smiles widely at the note. He always makes it a mission to care about people like his friends care about him. He places the note down, then slowly heads to the kitchen. Luckily his medicine works kind of fast. The hard pounding is reduced to a low throbbing. He grabs another bottle of water then turns to go look at the clock on his oven. It's 7:20am. Steve will be here soon. He's sort of hungry right now, but he really loves the chef's food. He can wait.

Sam heads to the bathroom to freshen up a little, then comes back to the kitchen and sits at the counter, laying his head down on his arms. Thank god Steve has a key because Sam really does not feel like moving again one bit at the moment.

\-------------------------------------

It's exactly 8:00am now and Steve wasn't a second late and wasted no time either. When Steve came in he found Sam sleeping at the counter in the kitchen. He just grins at him and doesn't wake him as he sets up to make Sam a favorite of his : Red Velvet Pancakes with Cream Cheese Icing. He quietly takes the ingredients out of a grocery bag and grabs a big mixing bowl from Sam's cabinet, and a small whisk from his kitchen drawer.

Steve's got all the ingredients in the bowl and he's just adding the red food coloring now. He starts whisking and that small noise was all that was needed for Sam to start waking up again.

Steve finishes the last bit of whisking and puts the bowl down to greet Sam. His voice is a deep, quiet tone that soothes Sam's startled state. "Sam? You don't have to sit up yet. I'm just making you some food like I said. Don't worry, you're not in the way okay? You don't have to move too much."

"Okay no problem. Thank you Steve." Sam mumbles with a half smile. Steve tells him he's welcome and goes to begin cooking the pancakes. The smell of the ingredients hits the air and he's so ready to eat again.

  
\------------------------------------------

It's 9 something now. The headache is dull and Sam can think again after eating. Steve says he doesn't have to leave until 10 if Sam wants the company. Sam definitely wants his company. So, now they're back on the living room couch just finishing a conversation about last night when something that wasn't on his mind comes up after he agrees to take two whole days off.

"So in short Sam, lets go easy on the Bailey's next time."

"Yeah, yeah. I learned that lesson now huh? I'll definitely have it again just not so much at one time. God, I still feel so stiff." Sam admits, trying to massage his hand into his shoulder the way Steve does it. It works a little.

"True, I'd say you definitely did there." Steve starts. He pauses a moment then has a thought. "Hey Sam? This is random but I've been thinking about Bucky since I saw him again."

Sam raises an eyebrow. "Remind me who Bucky is?"

"James? James Barnes?"

Fuck. James...Sam has to see about James. "Oh..Yeah... what about him?"

"I just hope he stays safe is all. I've seen him get upset with himself, or his life, or whatever, and do some reckless things because of those feelings. I remembered him always talking about how he just doesn't feel good enough no matter how kind he is, how much he practiced his cooking, how he's only going to ever feel like a waste of space... I'm not sure if he got a little better since I've been around him or worse. You get me?"

Sam takes in his words and nods. Yeah, Sam could deduce that he could be reckless because of his inner turmoil, but..talk like that? Should he have placed James in the suicide watch unit? Maybe it isn't just anger issues with him. He can't know unless he has a few more discussions with him. "Don't worry Steve, I can promise you that the last time I talked to him, he says he felt better than he has in a long time."

This makes Steve smile. "Good. I know his feelings can't be cured so that's not what l'm asking. I just don't want him to feel like he has that weight on his shoulders all the time. I know you don't know him well but trust me, He deserves to have more life in him than that."

"Don't worry Chef, I got him. Like I helped many others, I can help him the same." Sam promises. Steve definitely believes him.

\-----------------------------------  
As soon as Steve left, Sam had something to take care of. He didn't want to do it while we was here since he planned on talking to James. Steve may be a close friend to James but Doctor-Patient confidentiality is alive and well. He starts off by calling another one of the head doctors to officially call out.

"Hey Tony?"

"Yes?"

"It's Wilson. Look, I just wanted to let you know I'm taking today and tomorrow off."

"No problem man, I'll send an Intern with a temporary key card to make sure your office is locked. Is there anything else specific you want to check on while I got you on the phone?"

There sure is. "Yeah uh, can you transfer me to Sector 2, Floor 3, room 314 please? I have a patient there I gotta check on."

"You got it. I'll see you on Thursday"

"Thank you Tony, I'll see you then."

When he gets transferred and he hears the phone ringing, he takes a deep breath. What Steve said to him about James really got him nervous. Thankfully he's not left with his nervous thoughts for long as he suddenly hears James' voice.

"Hello?" His voice sounds tired. Hopefully Sam didn't wake him up or he had trouble sleeping.

"Hi James it's Dr. Wilson. I'm not talking for long if you don't want to. I just wanted to see if everything was okay and if you felt comfortable. Also making sure the staff is doing their job of feeding you and giving you everything you need."

"Oh, Hi Doc. Yeah it's all good here. The staff is great. I just...do feel a little uncomfortable. I have my own space and all but this place feels too public to me. Too many people roam around and I feel unsafe again I guess."

Sam raises an eyebrow. Damn he didn't think of that. He does know how to respond though. "I understand you're feeling uncomfortable in a place where too many people can come and go. I have an Idea though..." Sam pauses to make sure James wants to hear it.

"I'm listening."

"Maybe you just feel alone? I remember you saying that you have a few friends outside the facility. Sounds like you have a tight circle. Also, You seem like you can be a people person depending on the person or people. Am I right?"

"Eh, Sounds right."

"Okay well I want you to know that you're free to go to the recreation center section of your sector anytime between 10:00am through 8:00pm, all days of the week. Just call a staff member to escort you. Whenever you feel comfortable, maybe you could try to make a tight circle of friends here. Or at least 1 or 2. What do you think?"

"Do you think there would be other omegas down there? If so then... maybe I'll just go down there. Just to have a chance to be around some of my people. I'm sure you know this but omegas bond with each other very easily. Doesn't matter what's wrong with either of us."

Sam smiles to himself again. He knew he made a good suggestion. "Oh I remember James, and absolutely! About 20% of the patient population here are alphas and omegas. About 5% of those are in sector 2 where you are. You have a strong chance of finding a few in that rec center." Sam feels a little excited for him. He once again remembers seeing what just having one amazing friend can do to help manage mental health.

James chuckles a little bit. "Nice! You have no idea how much I love finding either one Alpha, a few Beta's, or a whole bunch of omegas I can trust. I don't have a lot. Just that one circle outside. Maybe I could really use this. I know a lot of us like the evening times so I'll try going down in the evening a few hours before the rec center closes."

Sam can't believe what he's hearing. He wants James to get that love and attention he craves from his people so bad. "I'm so glad to hear that James! Whenever you feel comfortable okay? Don't push yourself. Tell me how it goes whenever you do it."

"I will. Once again it's like you know what to say. I guess we consider what you suggested one of those at least three educated guesses you make a day?" James jokes.

"You know it!" Sam says confidently.

  
\-------------------------------------

There's so many things to do today. Sam decides he'll call his favorite cousin and they can finally go see that Kings of Egypt exhibit at the History Museum he wanted Sam to see. His cousin is a museum curator and he's in town for this exhibit so they could finally hang out together again.

He's close with his cousin. One thing he's always learned from him and shared with him is a strong love of knowledge. It'd be the perfect way to spend the first day off if he can contact him. Sam goes through his contact list and clicks the name.

Sam feels his heart rate go up in excitement when he's greeted with his cousin's thick Wakandan accent. Sam's father is African, so he's got a lot of family over there that he likes to keep in contact with. This cousin is his favorite.

"Sam! Hi!"

"Hey T'Challa! I know you're still in town and it's been a few days since I called you back, but I've been real distracted with work a lot lately! I took today and tomorrow off so I'm free for a little while. I decided I would call you! You still in town working on that exhibit here?

"You know I surely understand about working so it's no problem. Also, yes! The Kings of Egypt exhibit is going to be on for another week and they're keeping me here to answer questions about the artifacts. Did you want to see the exhibit today?"

Could this day be anymore perfect? "Yeah! That's exactly why I called today! So how we doing this? I come get you in my car or you get me in yours?"

"Well I'm staying at a hotel right near the museum so you stay there and I'll come for you alright?"

"Alright no problem! I'm ready so whenever you're ready you can come."

"Okay see you soon Sam! I look forward to showing you the things me and my team have put on display. I'll call you when I'm outside."

Once they say their goodbyes and hang up, Sam goes to prepare for the day. With Steve spending time alone with him this morning, making James feel a little better again, and he gets to hang out with his favorite cousin, this is already one of the best days off he's had in a while. When he gets back to work though, he's gotta talk a lot more with James. He just can't get what Steve said off his mind no matter how happy he made James.

For now though, a nice day off at the museum is needed.

 

 


	4. Mr Dismas.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A nice time at the museum and a sort of relationship changing conversation isn't the only thing that was going on this day.
> 
> (HUGE EDIT : I've changed the name of this work from "The End Results" to "Three Educated Guesses A Day".)

It's only going to be half an hour before T'Challa gets here. So Sam decides he'll pass the time waiting in his home office listening to some music.

Sam has always loved the views from his home office. It shows his backyard garden full of not only an assortment of colorful flowers his mother helped him pick out (because he wanted to know which flowers specifically she kept in her backyard when he was a child), but it is also home to the medicinal herbs he uses to practice natural medicine such as Peppermint, Sage, Rosemary and Lemon Balm.

His cousin was how he got into Medicine in the first place. Sam thinks back when he was 10 and T'Challa was 16.

                                                     

                                                     -----------------------------------------------

 

_T'Challa had Sam over for the week. They were only able to do this in the summer because that's when T'Challa's parents go to their American summer home and they return to Wakanda once it's over._

_As usual when Sam comes over, T'Challa had something cool to teach him about. This time, he says they were gonna learn how many cultures including their ancestors practiced medicine._

_Before this on many other weekends they spend together, T'Challa has taught him a bit on many subjects. Either it's a subject Sam knows he's interested in, or he's never thought of it but now he's interested and there was never an in between._

_So Sam followed behind T'Challa down the long winding hallways of his home towards his room. While they walked Sam brings up the concern that medicine takes many years to practice and master based on what he already knows about colleges, so how would he learn everything in one weekend? T'Challa laughs and playfully slaps his shoulder telling him that he didn't have to go to school to learn the little basic things he was going to show him._

_They get Sam's stuff settled then they waste no time going to his father's in home lab. Everything Sam has ever learned from T'Challa was in this lab. Sam remembers asking T'Challa why that was and in response he just asked "Do you believe in energies? Things like aura's and spiritual influences?" Sam says yes._

_"Well I believe this room possesses knowledge energy if that makes sense. This room has had my father and many of his smartest friends researching and planning in here for years. Many discoveries were made in this room. I learn in here with him always as well and I haven't forgotten one thing that was taught to me. You didn't forget anything I've shown you so far either, watch this..."_

_Sam nods and waits as T'Challa takes a moment to think. "Okay here's one I told you in here when you were eight. Who was the person who refused to give up her seat to a white person months before Rosa Parks?"_

_"Oh! her name was Claudette Colvin!"_

_T'Challa smiles in approval at him. "Good! Now, Why wasn't she the more well known if she did it first?" He asked in a tone like he didn't know._

_Sam beams with confidence, he can't believe he remembers this because he hasn't thought about it in a while. "She wasn't that well known because civil rights leaders didn't think a teenager, then especially one with dark skin, would be a good poster child for the movement!"_

_T'Challa gives him a proud embrace. "You see that! Only 10 years old and look how smart you_  
_already are! I believe you have to have a strong brain to utilize knowledge energy, and you've definitley have that brain. "_

_Sam thanks him both verbally and with an even tighter hug. It was surely a proud moment later on in life when he became a certified genius like his big cousin._

_So, after some more conversation about what T'Challa did since the last time Sam was here, they get into learning about natural medicine._

_Again, Sam loved everything he's learned from T'Challa. This subject had the tightest grip on him though after he was told and shown what these simple herbs T'Challa pulled from his father's garden can do._

_Though he went on to major in psychology, He's never forgotten natural all the natural remedies he's learned. As a matter of fact, like T'Challa always said, He's never forgotten anything he taught Sam in that lab._

Sam smiles with these thoughts in mind and gets up to walk over to one of his shelves that holds things like his high school trophies, his college degree, his mensa awards, and... this tiny ecosystem he keeps in a jar from when he was 20. What he wanted to look at again.

T'Challa helped with this and Sam remembers him saying "If you take care of it well, it can last for a very long time." Well, Sam must've put so much love into this mini ecosystem like he does everything else because it's practically glowing with health 12 years later.

Sam found himself thinking about maybe doing a little maintenance on his ecosystem today before he leaves then the doorbell rings. He quickly snaps himself out of his thoughts and rushes to the door.

                                                     -----------------------------------------------

**( _4:00pm In Sweden, In the hidden underground lair of Mr. Dismas.)_**

_  
"Damn he got way too far this time. All the way in Washington?" Asked one of Mr. Dismas' security experts._

_"That's what our man we got there said. Also that he's held up in some care facility." Replies one of Mr. Dismas' hacking experts. Then as he gathers info on the runaway and his whereabouts through the web in lightning speed, he adds on some thoughts. "That's a smart place to run. Washington of course is one of those places where security is a huge priority."_

_They see the file they have on the location of the runaway and skim it together. The security expert notices a line from an article. "True...Then you have the fact that this Saint Bakhita Mutant Health Center is apparently a huge facility with almost as much security priority as the white house."_

_The hacker scoffs playfully. "Oh don't feel too down. Our agents stormed the white house before, took down almost all security guards and almost got the president..you know.. before dying horribly. With some more agent training, better weapons, and a better attack plan, we could have a chance at some hospital. Whatever powers these mutants have we'll have something for them."_

_The security expert thinks it over. "I'm not too sure. It could be risky. Mr. Dismas wants this guy for something real bad though. We got to try. At least it'll let him know we didn't stop looking."_

_"Thats a good point. I'll need special permissions from Mr. Dismas to start gaining materials and information for an attack plan. We need a good one too. Gotta figure out how we'll get around those damn shield agents."_

_"At the next meeting I'll be right by his side. I'll make sure to ask him for you. While I'm at it, I'll try to get that idiot who fell asleep on the job and let the guy escape executed. The sweet thing is I have permission to do that. Good, because the damn rookies seem to not know what "high priority" means."_

_They share a laugh at that._

 

                                                  -------------------------------------------------

 

Sam had a hard time trying not to laugh too loud in a huge public place like this. However, when T'Challa keeps telling him funny things about what happened with some of the items he curated, Sam can imagine him being that silly. He's always had an amazing sense of humor.

They come upon a display of two daggers. "You see this? Two amazing copper and gold daggers belonging to a famous Egyptian serial killer. The woman took down some of the biggest people in power with these. The notes we found with it even says she forged them with her own hands. Know what I did with them after I cleaned and polished them? Cut up some fruit for a bowl of cereal, Played Darts with them, had a fake knife duel for fun with someone on my team, and made some wood carvings."

"Seriously?! They don't even look like you touched them!" Sam exclaims, staring at the spotlighted display of the knives, looking for any sign of recent usage.

"It's all a part of the job really! Well...for me it is. I'm the one usually goofing around with all the artifacts so I'd have to thoroughly clean and polish them. Occasionally, I even wind up having to put some back together..."

Sam playfully gives him a disapproving look.

"What? Some people appreciate historic objects differently!"

"You're weird you know that?"

"Maybe, but it's so fun though..."

"Well... it does sound like fun." Sam admits in defeat, then this sharp feeling of curiosity gives him an idea for having a little fun of his own. "Hey, you think you could possibly use your power as a curator to...Let me touch them? They're really interesting."

T'Challa doesn't even have to think about it, the answer came quick and clear. "Of course! I just have to alert a security guard so he can keep watch while we're touching them. Let me warn you, it may take some time for me to get one here. They're mostly off guarding the bigger exhibits here. Wait here okay?"

Sam nods and T'Challa goes off to find a guard. Sam had no problem with that. He's extremely interested in everything around him right now and he wants to examine it all. He decides he'll look around in just this small space so he doesn't get too separated from T'Challa. He starts with temporarily having his attention back on the daggers until his phone rings.

"Hello?"

"You sound like you're at a concert or somethin'. Who's playing? I don't hear any music!"

Sam laughs and shakes his head. James is ridiculously funny. "I'm at the History Museum actually! How about you? Where you calling from?" Patients at the SBMH Center have phones both in their rooms and they're given special cell phones for calling certain people such as their assigned doctor, certain rooms in the building, etc. when they're not in the rooms.

"I heard your advice earlier...thought it was really cool, so I'm in the rec room. I know I said I would go much later than this but I started thinking so hard about it to the point that I felt like I just had to. So I'm here but... not really interacting. I'm nervous again."

Sam frowns in sympathy for a second before a sort of sad smile appears on his face. "Thank you for taking my suggestion James. I know that doing this kind of thing takes a lot of strength and confidence and I want you to know that it's okay if you feel like you don't have that right now. Also, try not to let your anxiety bully you. If you truly feel like you don't want to be there, you don't have to be there okay?"

Sam hears a chuckle in response. That's a good sign at least. The sound makes Sam's heart flutter happily. When his patients feel joy, he always can't help but to feel the same. "Doc, thank you. This is so weird for me you know? With my formal life... I'm so used to being such a tough guy. Don't know why it's hard now. Anyways though, I think I'll still stick around. I could use the open environment at least."

Sam wanted to answer his unasked question, Let him know what makes him feel so terrible. Sam doesn't press it though, decides to save it for the next therapy session he has with him. "That sounds good James. I want you to do whatever makes you comfortable alright?"

"You got it dude."

"Seriously? Did you just quote full house?"

"Sure did. I learned a whole bunch of pop culture references and I'll be damned if someone doesn't finally hear me use em'. I've never felt comfortable enough to use one, even with my few friends. You're the first I used one on. Did you like it? Was it good?"

James asks this seriously and Sam finds it odd that he only recently learned a bunch of references, but he doesn't press that either. His smile just gets brighter as he responds. "Not gonna lie, that was actually a really good use of that!"

"I'm glad you think so. You seem like a real nerd so I knew you'd appreciate it."

Hell, he can't even disagree there. "You're right, I did!"

"Good. Hey so... I'll see you Thursday instead of tomorrow right? Some guy called my room and told me you'd be taking a day off?"

Some patients take it hard when their therapists aren't there when they expect them to be. Which is understandable in Sam's opinion of course, but he guesses that he just expected a negative reaction. "Well first I guess I should tell you that guy is Tony Stark and he's another head doctor at our hospital. Also yes, I'll definitely be there for you on Friday okay? I apologize for taking this impromptu day off."

James doesn't sound fazed at all. "Oh cool, maybe i'll get to know him....and Doc there's nothing to apologize about, honestly. I can tell you work hard and I could basically smell the weakness on you. I guessed it's your lack of rest."

One thing Sam can respect about James is his ability to be brutally honest without too much of the brutal part. "You're absolutely right James. It seems it's not just me that makes at least three educated guesses a day huh?"

"Ahhh most definitely. To be fair though, my heightened sense of smell does help with most of my guesses as you can see."

"That is true...Oh hey, I got a guess for you. You didn't eat today." Sam waits anxiously to see if he's right.

"Well score one for you doc. How'd you know that?"

"You sound like you have no energy. I wasn't gonna guess that because I figured you were maybe just tired... but then I thought how you sounded like a specific kind of tired that wasn't from lack of sleep so I spitballed and guessed you didn't eat any food yet."

"Yeah, I guess I was still just thinking hard about the coming down here thing and didn't have much of an appetite. I'm feeling a bit better obviously and now that you got me thinking about it.. I'm hungry as hell!" James softly exclaims with a laugh.

Sam laughs right along with him and he wants to keep talking to him, He feels they could have friendly talks for hours. However, once he confirmed James needed to eat, he had to get him off the phone asap. Plus, T'Challa could be back any second so he also didn't want to be on the phone when he got back. "Well how about I let you go do that! You just call me later if you want to okay?"

"Hey no problem. See you Thursday doc. Bring me more cake?"

"Oh? Sure, but I thought you didn't like being bought gifts..." Sam wonders why the change of mind occurred.

"I don't trust any gifts If I don't trust the person. You seem nice. Please don't make me regret my decision to _**try**_ trusting you."

Sam sees he's gained some form of trust already but he doesn't get excited yet. James' tone was so threatening with the way he said it that Sam can tell he has some work to do still. "That's something you won't have to worry about, you'll see. Oh, and don't worry, I'll bring you another chocolate cake okay? Two of em'."

"I'm looking forward to it Doc. Talk to you later."

"Yep, I'll talk to you later."

They both hang up and Sam finds himself clutching the phone and staring at it a bit before tucking it away in his pocket. He turns himself around to look for T'Challa and he sees him just now stepping through the entrance way of the part of the museum they were in. There's so many perfect things Sam notices about T'Challa, and his perfect timing is one of the biggest.

"So..." T'Challa starts as he gets to where Sam was standing. He sounds annoyed. "I was on my way to find a guard then someone from my team appears, dragging me along to one of the conference rooms where I had to explain for maybe 10 minutes to some rich guy that basically he couldn't just buy some of our artifacts just like that and that we needed them all to complete our tour. We aren't just holding this exhibit in this one museum you know..."

As a head doctor Sam also has dealt with his fair share of stuck up rich people himself. "I know the pain of that! How'd you get rid of the person?"

T'Challa motions to the guard he recruited a few feet away to come over. "He realized he couldn't get what he wanted and stormed off. I wasn't about to beg him to stay. Anyways, ready to touch not just these but a whole bunch of the coolest stuff you'll ever see while I tell you all about them?" He asks with a smile.

Sam exclaims "Yes!" almost a little to excitedly. He feels himself lighting up with joy. He feels like he's 8 years old in that research lab again. He's sure there's a huge amount of "Knowledge Energy" that's here that could make sure he'd never forget.

 

 

 

 


	5. The Doomsday Syndicate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> T'Challa and Sam wrap up their day at the museum and go to dinner, where they wind up having a bit of an uncomfortable conspiracy talk. Then, we learn about the short "Meeting" Mr Dismas holds for new recruits, and what his plan is.

It's now about 5 o clock in the museum. The sun is beginning to set on their day and the orange glows of the evening sun are casting their rays all over the inside of the building through the huge windows. There's barely anyone left since they close in two hours so it's for the most part quiet.

The most interesting conversation someone will hear if they're close enough is the one Sam and T'Challa are having over maybe the 20th artifact they've talked about and...well.. "Taken out of the display to examine for any damage."

T'Challa holds up a tiny piece of something that looks like it came from a gemstone. There's about 50 others like it lined up in the display perfectly. "Look at this. What do you think this is?" He asks Sam, carefully placing the tiny fragment in one of his hands.

Time for Sam to make one of his educated guesses. Too bad James isn't around to see this happen and keep score. So, first Sam looks at the display case where it was with the 49 others. He observes (from his geology knowledge T'Challa taught him when he was younger) how the cut of the gems are all man-made and how they all look alike so he figures they were used for something important.

"Hmm..may have been used by sculptors... these edges are almost sharp enough to be razors... knowing you, I'd say you cut your fingers a few times with these." Sam says, mumbling his thought process to T'Challa out loud and throwing that last line in there to mess with him. It makes T'Challa laugh before he responds.

"Well...maybe once or twice. I only messed with these just to examine the different colors and patterns on them. Felt a little too hard and fast to check the texture and-"

"Ouch!! Aww man..." Sam exclaims, quickly handing the tiny object back to T'Challa.

"Anndd...I winded up cutting deep by accident. See that? These little things are one of the most dangerous parts of this exhibit." T'Challa tells him then looks over Sam's finger to see how bad it is. "Nice, you managed to cut yourself more than me."

"Shut up and help will you?" Sam sasses him and they're laughing again. T'Challa finds the nearest emergency med kit on a wall and uses his key to unlock it. He comes back to Sam, cleaning his wound and putting a big bandaid on it.

Sam thanks him then looks back at the tiny object that cut him which is resting on top of the display case it came from. A small cut didn't stop his curiosity. "So... Was I right? I said they were used by sculptors."

"Yes I'd say you're correct. These are called Monoliths and we found that they were used by many cultures back in those times to sculpt the heads of weapons such as spears and the points of daggers. Basically the ones who used these were most likely the blacksmiths of their time." T'Challa informs him.

"That's amazing how they came up with that in a society with little technology. There were many geniuses back then too huh?"

"Oh yeah plenty of them. We had to get it from somewhere right?" T'Challa replies then opens his suitcase that he carries around when he's working. It contains different types of cleaning fluid for different materials. He picks one and a cleaning cloth and quickly cleans the Monolith. He places it back in it's spot in the display case and closes it.

  
"Right." Sam says then presses on his finger through the bandaid. It stings a little but doesn't hurt too much. He looks outside at the sun. He didn't pay attention to the sun setting much before but now it's really about to get dark. "Hey, What time is it?"

T'Challa lifts his wrist to check. "6:30. They're going to close at 7:30. At 7:00 the night guards are going to issue a "30 minutes until close" warning over the loudspeaker. Damn, we've been here basically all day."

Sam smiles and nods. That reminds him of when they were kids again. They'd spend more than just a few hours In that research lab, learning everything they wanted. It would be early when they arrived, late in the day when they left. "Yeah, we went over a lot of the artifacts. Had some long discussions about a few of them. The talk about the Monoliths was probably the shortest conversation we had on an artifact all day honestly."

T'Challa laughs and takes one last look at the display, then begins to slowly walk away. Sam follows behind. "Well "Brevity is the soul of wit" and all. Anyway though, You hungry?"

"I sure am. What do you have in mind?"

"You ever heard of YellowJacket's? Not only do they have the most amazing drinks but also the food is really gourmet."

It sure seems like this place is just popular to a lot of people that Sam knows. He's not complaining though. However, he never tried the food. "Yeah I love that place actually and it's right near where I work. I have yet to try the food though. I don't usually trust food in bars after watching Bar Rescue way too much."

"Come on, I'll show you how good it really is. Order anything you want and I'll pay for it."

"Sounds good to me."

 

  
                                                      --------------------------------------------------

 

Like yesterday when Sam went to YellowJacket's, it's a bit late once they get there. This time it's about 8:00pm. The warm yellow lighting among all the black furniture and decor never fails to make Sam comfortable in this place. The same professional and friendly looking clientele he likes are all sitting around talking, too. It always feels good to sit in here.

They pick one of the seating booths that are available instead of the usual table-and-chair set up and got themselves comfortable. Sam picks up the food menu he usually has always Ignored, and scans through it. There's no pictures but that's not needed when he notices that absolutely everything by the title alone looks exotic and barely heard of. The descriptions of the foods are amazing too.

He was reading, trying to figure out which of these items was the one he wanted to be his first dish from here when one caught his eye : Ode to Zuni Roast Chicken with Fennel Panzanella. Sam fondly remembers when James used his sense of smell to detect this in the cafeteria. It feels like that happened a while ago but the event only occurred a couple of days ago.

This has been reiterated many times by anyone who knows him, especially Nat and Steve, but it truly doesn't take much to make Sam to believe in someone and be proud of them. So when he even thinks of the fact that James used an ability as a werewolf so flawlessly to identify a smell, he thinks of everything James ever had to do with his abilities in order to survive and he's just so proud of him for being alive and living through the traumatic past he had to deal with.

"How about this one? I like how it sounds." Sam says, handing the menu to T'Challa and pointing at the title. He does seriously want to try it, too. He never tried it from the cafeteria from that day with James, and they don't repeat menu items often.

"Oh that Ode to Zuni dish? It's really good! I have a story about that where-"

T'Challa's thought goes on hold because a friendly waitress came over, apologizing for the long wait for service, then welcoming them to the bar and asking them what they would like to drink. They quickly scan the drinks special menu and they both agree on something called a Triple Berry Sangria. She jots that down then asks if they would like anything from the food menu.

Without skipping a beat Sam orders the Ode to Zuni Roast Chicken with Fennel Panzanella. T'Challa says he'd like that too. The waitress smiles and takes the menus. She says she'll be back soon with the drinks then walks away.

Once their attention is back on each other, Sam asks T'Challa to finish his thought about the dish.

"Oh right, the story. Well as you know, my job basically takes me everywhere. One year, I ended up in Sweden. There was a special Gala going on for some of the top contributors to the local museum. I was one of the curators there to be of assistance to any buyers who wanted to know a full extensive history about a specific artifact that they wanted to purchase."

"You always hated doing Galas... too complex, right?"

"Exactly! So the museum is known for using some of their contributions towards extracurricular activities for children, which I loved about them. One of those activities is cooking classes and the gala's food was going to be prepared by the top young chefs in the program. One of the main dinner options was this dish. It tasted amazing. Still, that event remains one of my darkest memories."

"Really? Why?"

As soon as Sam responded asking why, the waitress is back with the drinks. She politely placed them on the table and promises their food should be coming soon. They thank her and let her walk away. Then the talk continues.

"Well there's this terrifying group of nihilists called The Doomsday Syndicate. You know anything about them?"

Hearing the name makes Sam's stomach clench a little. "I've seen the documentary that 60 minutes had on them. They really are terrible. They're responsible for over 8 million deaths. The documentary was about them and their attacks but...They don't know anything but they're death count and their group name from notes they leave at crime scenes. It's scary. What about them?"

"Well, did the documentary cover any attacks in Sweden?" T'Challa asks in a tone that was trying to show Sam what he's hinting at.

Sam thinks about it a moment then a look of realization comes onto his face. "Now that I remember it, three of the attacks they mentioned were on Sweden. One of them was on...The Swedish History Museum Gala...oh my god you were there..."

As Sam says it he begins to visually become uncomfortable with the fact that he could have lost one of his favorite people to a reckless terrorist attack. However, with these sick feelings of worry in his mind the strong curiosity he possesses wants to know how the hell he got out of there. So he asks.

T'Challa takes a long sip of his drink before answering. "I didn't teach you this because I felt your mom would kill me, but, when I was younger, I was heavily into the idea of being in the army. I looked up everything I could on combat training, how to use many kinds of guns, how to perform melee takedowns, how to be extremely vigilant of any bullets flying in my direction... things like that. It's learning all these things and more that helped me fight my way out of there."

Sam takes a few rushed breaths. He can't believe he's feeling so terrified by this. He doesn't know what to say, what to do. He wishes there was something he could do. He wished he could have been there to help protect him and all those innocent people.

"Sam?..." T'Challa says when he notices Sam went quiet.

"These people aren't destroyed yet, and there's nothing we can do about it. There are deaths all over this country and many others because of them, yet no one knows how to stop them."

T'Challa nods. He definitely can feel where Sam is coming from. It is heartbreaking to know how little people's lives matter to some. However, he feels that there's hope.

He tells Sam to look at him. "Anything that leaves behind this much death will be exposed Sam. It always happens. These kinds of people always think they can avoid the fate they deserve, but they'll get what's coming to them. It's very rare when killers who are this reckless and sloppy don't get caught."

"I really hope you're right." is all Sam mumbles in response.

"You know what? Me too." T'Challa says, then there's a moment of silence before he speaks again. "The worst part was having to watch as they quickly took some people away to recruit them for their syndicate. They're known for that. That's how most conspiracy theorists speculate they got so huge as an organization. Taking people, brainwashing them to hold their beliefs, killing the ineffective ones..."

"Yeah. There's many conspiracies that say they favor taking mutants with certain abilities such as super speed and strength, Indestructibility or regeneration... and they would also take humans with strong figures and athletic ability and give them some weird serum to have them keep up with the mutants. I heard they even give a serum to mutants to add abilities to them...

The waitress returns again at this time, placing the plates of food in front of them. They thank her. They look down at the food which looks amazing and the way it's plated is just gorgeous. Gourmet, just as T'Challa said. At this moment, Sam realizes what he really wanted to focus on now. Plus, this conversation was starting to make him feel sick.

"Anyway, we can drop this for now, can't we?"

T'Challa already wanted to change this subject himself, so when he could see the worry in Sam's eyes he was glad Sam wanted to drop this too. "Sure. No need discussing a subject we barely know anything about, right?"

 

                                                 -------------------------------------------------

  
                                                          **(Back in the lair of Mr. Dismas)**

_The Security expert makes his way down to the office of the boss for the meeting. Keeping his eyes forward and focused and his expression stern. Here, you must look like the soldier you were put here to be. You have no time for talking unless it's something important, and no being friendly. Doing anything of the sort means you'll have to be "wiped" again. He doesn't want that ever again. He really needs to be what the boss wants. So he tries really hard._

_Everyone has to be kept wiped. Have no other focus or emotion except for the task you were given and the soldier you're being groomed to remain being. He can't afford to look as if his humanity is returning. He has to maintain the role._

_Eventually he makes it to the door. He straightens his back and tightens up his face. He focuses. He must be ready to enter. Once he decides he's ready, he nervously places his hand on the identity scanner. A computerized voice says : "Access Granted to, Ezekiel Graves, Soldier 28, Security Expert. Please enter."_

_Ezekiel steps back as the huge, thick, titanium doors open. Once the doors are open enough for him to walk through, He does so in the stoic, straight-line forward fashion that a good soldier is known for. He doesn't attempt to speak to anyone or doesn't try to look at anyone. He just assumes a standing position next to 9 other security experts. They assume the role of a good soldier as well as he does._

_In front of where they stand is a long table filled with people tied to chairs. 9 on each side of the table. With 9 guards on one side and 9 on the other. They can look at these people and tell they were crying or begging for a long time, but since gave up on that. They're trying to just sit completely still now, not wanting the guards behind them all to hit them for disobeying somehow, and waiting for the worst. Ezekiel and everyone else waits patiently for another five minutes for the meeting to start._

_Those five minutes pass and then : "Oh what's this? Why all the long faces?" Says a booming British voice from across the room. The people tied to the chairs all look up toward the voice. They see the man coming towards the table, the only sound after his voice in the room being the tap of his expensive loafers. He walks to the head of the table but doesn't sit down._

_"Silence...okay that's an option. Well then, maybe if I introduce myself we'd all feel a little better hmm?" He says, running his hands through his jet black hair._

_"This is the lair of The Doomsday Syndicate." he pauses there so everyone can take that in. He loves seeing the looks on the new people's faces when they realize that they recognize the name._

_"Thats right everyone, You're looking right at the creative devil who put all this together. Since you're never leaving here unless it's by a body bag anyway I can tell you what every single kind of law enforcement in the world has been trying to find out, and that's my name. I'm Charles Dismas. Mr Dismas is how I'm actually well known here. The reason you're here is because you've been selected to be...reborn in a way.. to be part of something that can assure my name is feared and respected forever."_

_Mr Dismas pauses to look at all the new faces again before he slowly turns around and walks to a closet behind him. Inside is a large, grim reaper like staff. He gently pulls it out of the closet then shuts it, and comes back over to the table._

_"Now don't worry, I won't make this gathering unnecessarily long. I do have a business to run. The short version of what's happening is..." He pauses once again to snap his fingers, which is a signal for all the guards to move out of the way, which they do, then he finished. "I fire at you with the end of this staff here so that you do whatever I say and then you get to go to what's called our "wiping chamber" to get some extra brain work done to ensure the effects of what I do here can't be easily reversed with some smack upside the head. Got it? Good."_

_Just before they even get time to react, Mr Dismas points the staff to their direction and 18 blue bolts of energy, 1 for each person, came flying right at all their chests. The screams fill the once almost dead silent room for a few seconds until the bolts stop and they all flop unconscious onto the table in front of them._

_Mr Dismas sighs and addresses the guards. "Okay you people come take them to the next step I promised them. I'll come back to address them more once they have all that god awful human emotion out of them."_

_The guards waste no time doing what he says. they all pick up a body and walk out to the next room. Ezekiel doesn't quite do that yet as he promised the hacker he'd tell Mr. Dismas about the plan._

_Mr Dismas noticed he doesn't follow protocol and thinks to himself that he'd better have a damn good reason. "Is something off with you today... Ezekiel?" He asks in a stern tone, looking him up and down as if questioning whether he needs another wipe or not._

_Ezekiel, even though for the most part not as brainwashed anymore, has been successfully desensitized to Mr.Dismas' threatening questions and stares. He keeps his composure and answers. "No sir. I only request to temporarily not perform this duty to tell you how one of the hackers, Tech Expert number 42, Rueben Caulfield, would like to know if he has your permission to start gaining materials and information for an attack plan when It comes to the mission of regaining James Barnes as a Soldier._

_Mr Dismas raises an eyebrow and smiles. "Tell him and any other tech expert that they have permission. That was my best soldier and I hate the thought that he could have escaped me for good this time. Plus, he's the only one to have escaped here and I would hate for him to be the whistleblower who tells everything. It's only a matter of time."_

_"Yes sir. I understand his importance sir."_

_"Good. Now take the body to the wiping room then go tell the hacker immediately when you're done. I want this search started as soon as possible...Oh and Ezekiel, I think it was 42 who sent me some files earlier on his location. I've read them all. See what information you can get me on this doctor who's taking care of him, too._

_Ezekiel is a little confused here. "If you don't mind me asking sir, why his doctor?"_

_"Because if James ever tells that doctor anything, he needs to be bought here right along with him."_

 

 

 

 


	6. Undercover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What starts off as a simple night where Steve gets off from work and just wants to check up on Sam and James, almost turns into an important secret being discovered.

  
                                                    ** _(Back at the Saint Bahkita Medical Center)_**

It's now 10:00pm and Steve and his team are deep into that time of day now when they start the clean up process. As he does his part finishing up cleaning the up front service area of the cafeteria while his chefs clean the back the way he used to thoroughly show them how to, a few thoughts come to him.

One, He needs to check on Sam. He hasn't called him since he left after cooking him breakfast. Two, He should check on James before he leaves. He hasn't really had the time he promised with him the first day they reunited yet because apparently he wasn't in his room most of the day. Steve figures he should be there now.

At about 10:30 He finishes up the last of his cleaning then heads back into the kitchen to check on his team. They tell him that the last of the cleaning for the night is done and they were just waiting for him to inspect and make sure its how he likes it to be done before they all leave. So he does his usual inspection and clears them to leave for tonight.

Once he grabs the keys to the cafeteria and locks it, he begins his walk down the long empty hallways to head to James' sector. He acts on his first thought from earlier of calling Sam while he walks.

When he calls Sam's cellphone, the phone rings and rings but there's no answer. Steve thinks maybe he might be just relaxing or sleeping so he just decides he'll call Natasha to ask about Sam then he'll leave the whole idea of contacting him alone for now.

He's just pushing open the door to sector 2 when she picks up. "You know, you don't usually call me drunk and trying to hit on me this early... it's more around 1, maybe 3am." She opens with this in her usual joking tone.

Steve instantly smiles and chuckles a little, He can't even argue with her on that one. "Hey I still feel bad for those times okay? I've been a much better drunk these days."

"Yeah? Well I'll be the judge of that whenever's the next time you call me late at night." There was a small pause as they laughed quietly, then she continues. "So seriously though, what's up? Everything okay?"

"I'm fine actually. I was wondering if you talked to Sam today? I tried to call him now that I'm off but I'm guessing he's sleeping."

"I didn't call him today because I figured that's what he'd be doing all day myself. He hasn't slept well in a while, you know?"

"Exactly. I didn't think of that. Maybe that's all it is. Let's just try to contact him in the morning okay?"

"No problem. I'll talk to you later?"

"Yep, see you later." He says then they both hang up. He looks down to guide his phone back into his pocket then when he looks forward again, he catches a glimpse of someone walking by further down the hallway. There's usually no one really wandering around this late unless they were headed towards an exit.

They were both currently on floor 1 of Sector 2. Each sector has 8 floors. Once Steve heard the elevator's ding echo through the hallway as he got a few feet away from it, he wondered if maybe this person he saw was just a patient who was wondering outside of their room. Steve makes a split second decision to jog a little so that he could catch up to the person.

He makes it right on time to stop the elevator doors from closing, pushing them apart so that he could step inside. The other person immediately flinches in surprise and clutches their notebooks they had to their chest. Steve apologizes for the scare and realizes this person doesn't look like any random patient at all.

Steve sees floor three is already pressed so he knows they're going to the same place. He's just a little curious still. "Excuse me but...if you don't mind me asking, Are you a doctor here that works really late? Or maybe an Intern of some kind? I'm sorry I'm just not use to seeing any other doctor but Dr Wilson still at work this late."

The person adjusts his glasses and gives a small chuckle. "Well, I'm actually not a doctor here. I'm a Case Manager for one of the patients here. He called me and asked if he could receive some of his files to show to his doctor... That same doctor you mentioned actually. Dr. Wilson."

Steve raises an eyebrow. He knows each doctor here can take up to four Long-Term care program patients. There's a chance he could be here to see James too. Something still feels weird to him though. "Oh, cool then....but why this late?"

The case manager narrows his eyes at his continued questioning. The elevator dings, and they reach the floor they were going to and step off, they walk in the same direction. He has a question of his own. "I'm sorry sir, but.. are you a doctor here? I'd like to know why you're here late yourself."

Steve stumbles on his words a little and his expressions softens. "Uh, no...I'm the head chef in our marketplace area where the cafeteria is." Steve says and shows his badge. "I finish late normally because the cafeteria doesn't close until 9:00pm and then me and my team have to do our cleaning. That can take anywhere between 15 min to an hour. It depends on the mess."

Once Steve explains himself in full detail, he raises his eyebrow, as to say that it's the case manager's turn to explain himself. The man sighs as he stops walking to explain quick and in a hurry so he can go about his task.

"Okay, my name is Bruce Banner. My patient here is James Barnes. When he called me about an hour ago and said he'd like to have certain files to give to his doctor, I told him I could bring them but I'd have to do this tonight because tomorrow I have to go out of town for a few days. He said he'd stay up and wait for me so here I am." Bruce fixes his glasses again and crosses his arms. Waiting for the confirmation that Steve has stopped being suspicious.

Steve nods his head as Bruce's explanation was finished. He realizes two more things. One, He was right about them going to see the same person. Two, he has got to stop laying on his investigative attitude so thick when he gets worried. He's still not going to be sure about this guy until they get to the room though.

Steve shrugs. "Okay, that makes sense. I'm actually here to see James too. I know him personally too and promised We'd hang out a while. I just came to check on him tonight though."

Bruce relaxes a little. "Really? Well that's good to know. I'm glad James has someone here he can feel comfortable with. I'm sure you know he could get really paranoid. He even accused me of being part of The Doomsday Syndicate once and he treated me like a suspect for a week."

Steve nods. "I remember him doing things like that sometimes. You just have to remember that he's been through a lot of trauma from his past. If he gets suspicious of your character, or doesn't want to be touched, or barely wants to speak... support him and remember things like these are basically his defense mechanism. He just doesn't want to be hurt again, you know?"

Bruce hums in agreement. "Oh, of course. I'd never hold things like that against him. Just worries me is all." Then there's a pause between them as they walk before he speaks again. "By the way, I'm not really sure where his room located, you're leading the way here right?"

Steve points in the direction they're going. "Sure, we're almost there."

  
                                                     

                                               ------------------------------------------------

 

It was a quick exchange between James and Bruce. They greeted each other at his door, Bruce hands him the files, James politely thanks him and Bruce tells him he'll call him when he gets back in town. Then once they say goodnight and Bruce walks off, that gives James and Steve a little time to talk.

Steve is still standing on the outside of the door with James standing in his own doorway. He opens up with one of their usual "friendly insults" they used to give each other. "Need a few more hours of sleep? You're not exactly your most beautiful right now."

James smirks at him. He's always up for this game. "Yeah I need sleep like you need that beard trimmed."

Steve chuckles and strokes at his beard. "Righttt...Righttt...I'll let you win with that this time."

James shrugs and steps back inside his room. "Step your insult game up next time. Come in."

Steve steps inside and sits in on the couch across from his bed. James locks his door behind him and flops back down onto his bed, making himself comfortable again. Steve just waits silently for him to talk first.

"So what's up? you just coming to check on me?"

"Exactly. I thought maybe you might've wanted a bit of company before you went to sleep. Anything you want to talk about?"

James is silent a moment as he thinks about whether or not he should bring his current thoughts up right now. He figures out exactly how he could explain them. "So... I have three guesses for you." James' voice eventually breaks through the silence to say, turning his head to Steve.

Steve looks confused. "Guesses? About what?"

"About you. For instance. Guess number one is that you didn't trust Bruce at first either. Am I right?"

"That was noticed? I was barely trying to show it..." Steve says to both himself and James.

"You can try all you want, but you can't hide even the slightest body language from someone like me. I'll know almost immediately what you might be thinking."

"You were always very smart using your abilities like that, Buck. Oh, and yeah, you're right. I was just coming up to see you and ran into him coming to see you too. I never met him and didn't know what he was doing here so late."

"I see. That was actually my second guess about you."

"What? Really?"

"Nah. My second was actually that you seem worried about someone. It's not me, is it? There's nothing to worry about with me yet."

Steve wanted to include asking what he meant by that in his response. However, a second thought tells him to not read too much into it because it just might be part of one of James' anxious thoughts that he doesn't like talking about. "I stopped worrying about you the day you showed up in the cafeteria kitchen with Dr. Wilson. I finally knew you were in good hands so there's nothing to worry about. He's the one I'm worried about actually."

James' ears perk up upon hearing that. "The Doc? I just talked to him earlier in the day. He said he'd calll me later but I guess he got tired. He sounded perfectly okay. What, Is he sick or something?"

"No he was fine the last I saw him too. I just feel the strong need to make sure he's always staying that way, I guess."

"Nothing wrong with checking on friends, sir. You wanna hear my third guess?"

Steve smiles at him again and nods. "Sure, what else did you figure out."

"You have some sort of secret you struggle to continue hiding about you I think. This is one I've been thinking about you for a while."

Steve's face drops and he looks at James seriously. He keeps his face as neutral as possible. There's absolutely no way he could know. If he knows, that could be dangerous to his safety. "Okay, what kind of secret do you think it is, Buck?"

James sits up in the bed and strokes through his hair. "Well I can't tell ya that. I'm no mind reader, and I won't ask you. I can just tell certain things based on a mixed combination of a lot of people's actions like how a heart is beating, if I can tune in and hear blood rushing or not, hearing the speech pattern, how eyes move when someone answer's a question... all kinds of ways. Ever since I met you..or anyone, even Dr. Wilson, I've been monitoring things like that."

Steve just stares silently and uses every bit of training he can remember to not show an emotional reaction to James' wise words. He feels that there's something there James can still detect though.

When James hears no response he chuckles, takes a deep breath and tries to explain himself. "I remember one time way back in your cooking class, You checked your watch and had to rush out so you dismissed the class. When everyone was leaving I saw you leave out of another exit door. I followed you. When I caught up I was just in time to see you hopping inside some huge black SUV and I watched it speed off. Look, I just want you to know that if you're having some kind of trouble with the mob or something like that..."

Steve relaxed immediately and smiles again. So that's what James thinks this is. He doesn't remember some of those details happening that way, but Steve feels he doesn't remember much with all that goes on in his day to day life. "Oh Buck...God no. I promise you it was nothing like that when you saw me that day. I remember that day actually. I had a family emergency. I have a sister who was having a baby at the time. Her husband left her when she was pregnant and that was and is still really hard for her. I just promised her I'd be there and I was rushing off in that van because It was a cousin of mine calling telling me we had to get there quick because she was in labor."

James paid close attention and slightly nodded every time Steve finished a sentence. Then he looks Steve over like he's trying to read him the way he described again.

Steve breaks his focus. "You done "searching" me yet? I feel a little violated." He jokes.

James' tone is hushed and sincere when he responds. "I was making sure this wasn't too hard to talk about that for you. You're pretty relaxed. Sorry if it sounded like I was accusing you of something like I did with Bruce. I trust you, but I thought you were in some sort of danger that day and I never got that feeling off my mind ever since I could remember that again. You know how my brain is. Anyway, I'm glad I finally got to explain that to you."

Steve's heart breaks. He has to hold it together though and realize that as much as he wants to tell him. Once again, It's too dangerous. His tone is just as sincere when he talks. "I'm glad you feel better kid. I'm sorry if seeing that scared you."

"No worries. It's not your fault. I'm glad you're okay." James assures him. They sat in a comfortable silence until James quietly yawns and rubs an eye.

Steve takes note of his tired state and slowly stands. They make eye contact as he does and Steve holds his arms out. "Alright Buck give me a hug then stop holding me captive in here will ya?"

James laughs and jumps up from the bed. He gives Steve a warm embrace. "Fine. I'll let you out this time. Next time you're locked in here for good."

Steve ruffles James' hair. "You got it. So you still have that cell phone that was given to you if you need to call Sam for anything, right?" He makes sure to say it's Sam he should try to contact first. He feels it's important for James to try to be as close to Sam as much as he is.

"Of course. I always keep it near me. He's uh... He's very comforting to talk to. If you tell him I said that I'll rip your throat out with my claws."

Steve scoffs playfully at him. "Your little baby omega claws? Yeah right."

James raises an eyebrow and slowly raises his fists in front of his face. He flicks his wrists and approximately 7 inch long metal shears pop out of his knuckles.

".....Point taken." Steve responds with his hands up in defeat. He walks towards the door. "I'll see you later. Make sure to call Sam tomorrow. I'll be calling him in the morning to check on him."

James sheaths his claws and walks around Steve to open the door. "Don't worry I will sir. I'll see you later."

                                                 ----------------------------------------

Once he's out in the hallway, Steve breathes a sigh of relief. There's been a constant vibration on his wristwatch he's thankful James didn't notice and mention. He looks wearily at the faintly buzzing watch and quickly makes his way back to the elevator before he answers it.

He planned on going home and maybe falling asleep streaming a movie on Netflix after eating the rest of that lasagna he made a few nights ago. That's out the window now of course.

Then again, when is life ever easy for a S.H.I.E.L.D agent.

 

 

 


	7. Get That Phone Destroyed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It turns out the call that Steve ignores while trying to get back to the elevator is more important than he could have ever known. Then, Mr Dismas opens up about James. Sam has a...well...pleasurable experience, then goes back to work to finally talk to James again.

  
As Steve rushed back to the elevator, the ringing on his wrist seemed to be echoing louder and louder throughout the hallway. He managed to mute it for 5 minutes as soon as the vibration started when he was talking to James. While he was talking to him, Steve concealed the flashing light, but that 5 minute mute feature can only be used once per incoming call so the agent can get somewhere private to answer. Now it's just going off loudly and he just has to get to that elevator.

He knows he can't just answer the call in an open area. However, he's tempted to do so by the thought that this ringing might be loud enough to get people's attention because after all him and bruce may not have been the only ones walking around the facility late at night, even if it is usually very quiet here at this time.

Steve approaches the corner he needs to turn around to walk a straight line to the elevator. Right before he's about to walk around it, he hears the middle of a conversation. Exactly what he feared would happen. He stops, curses silently to himself and listens.

"Look, there's no way we're turning off that noise. We know it's not one of the alarms, so that means it's probably coming from one of these freaks' rooms and you know we can't get in any of em'."

"Dammit. Fine. I swear man that same high pitched noise comes up every once in a while from random ass places and it drives me insane."

Steve shakes his head. For a company like S.H.I.E.L.D that's supposed to be top secret, their tech sure is noticeable. Steve didn't even realize this wasn't the first time these two heard the watch. He makes a mental note of telling S.H.I.E.L.D not to contact him at his cover job.

Right when Steve is about to turn around the corner and use the watch to hit them with a micro amnesia dart, his phone rings. Steve flinches out of shock, deciding to quickly just remove the watch, stuffing it in his pocket and pulling out his phone, answering without even checking the caller I.D.

"Hello?"

"Rogers what in the hell is taking you so long to answer your damn communicator? What, you expecting someone? Is that why you answered your phone so quick? Come on man... I thought you got taken again."

Steve doesn't even get argumentative, he just calmly explains. "I think I almost got my cover blown, Sir. Then, I'm in a public situation so I couldn't answer. Let me just make it up to you right now. What's happening?"

Steve sighs as he notices his watch has stopped ringing and the two night guards who were complaining start talking about how relieved they are that the noise stopped. Steve rolls his eyes and prays for them to just go away already. They do, and Steve is glad that they must have finished their rounds where they are, because he hears them walk in the opposite direction. He starts slowly walking to the elevator.

He then turns his attention back to Director Fury as he sighs and responds. "Remember the friend you asked us to put under protection? Well we got a notification from the anti-tracing software we put in his phone. Someone tried to get through it."

Steve was prepared to hop into another black suv and take on whatever huge hidden crime that had been discovered by S.H.I.E.L.D. He was prepared to fight so hard until he lost his life if he had to. That was a part of the job. He however was not ready to hear that one of the people he cares about the most in this world may be under any kind of serious threat from any of S.H.I.E.L.D's enemies.

He finally gets back to the elevator door and pushes the button to go back down. The elevator doesn't take long and gets there almost immediately and he steps inside and clears his throat. "Okay...that could be some sort of normal threat from a virus or something. Who would have any problems with Sam?"

Fury rubs his temple. He hates the thought of this as much as Steve does. "Your guy is an owner and a head doctor at a highly popular facility, so who knows. We're working on tracking the source right now. They're no joke whoever the hell the person or organization is. It's taking us a while to break their coding. The good news is they're still trying to get through ours. It could probably be cracked in about an hour from now...if they have no idea what the hell they're trying to get through yet though... maybe 3 hours tops."

Steve nods and takes a second to replay the information he's just been given in his mind. "1-3 hours until they get in. Got it. What do I have to do?" He asks, because he knows Fury isn't just telling him this for no reason.

"Get to your friend's house right now. Access our termination coding, Get that phone destroyed."

"No problem. When you can, please let me know why the hell he's even being targeted." Steve replies, annoyance and growing anger clearly there in his voice. The elevator reaches his floor and he rushes out of the nearest exit and runs to get to the parking lot all the way near the main entrance to get to his damn car.

"You'll be the first to know Rogers, I promise."

"Thank you sir." Steve responds quickly and hanging up, wanting to save his breath for the speedy running he's doing.

He gets halfway there (which means he's running through the SBMC's garden of all kinds of plants of flowers, which the hired gardeners are going to be pissed about) and he checks the time now. It's 10:25. He has anytime from now until 1:25 to get there. A normal drive from here to Sam's house is about 30 minutes, but Steve's still going to be breaking all kinds of driving laws to get there even sooner.

No later than 3 minutes after running through the SBMC's garden, a side of the parking lot is in his sights. He mentally prepares himself to leap over the lot's fence. He checks the time again (it's 10:32pm) right before he leaps over it, sticks the landing, then looks around frantically, trying to remember the direction of where he parked his car.

He quickly remembers he could use his car keys to find it. He pulls out his car keys and pushes his lock button. The lock confirmation sound goes off and, thank god, he spots his car right away. Sure, it's maybe way too many yards away from him right now, but at least he can see it.

Steve does some more running and finally gets to the side of his car. He unlocks it and jumps inside, slamming the door, jamming the key in the ignition and driving wildly out of there.

He gets there in 12 minutes.

  
                                                        ------------------------------------------

                                  **_(A few hours earlier in the lair of The Doomsday Syndicate)_**

_Mr. Dismas looks upon his new line of soldiers and smiles. They're all ready to listen to commands. Everyone in the room is dead silent as he paces back and forth in front of his 18 new soldiers, keeping stern eye contact with any of them that he passes._

_He continues this process for another minute until he stops in front of one of them, suddenly  
jabbing the tip of his staff very close to the person's face, the blue electric glow from earlier illuminating it. He waits maybe 10 seconds, then gives his judgement. "Not even so much as a flinch? Good."_

_The blue glow fades as Mr Dismas pulls his staff away, beginning to pace again. He isn't quiet this time, however. " Alright, Children. I hope you are all on the same level as your teammate here. I also hope you know that your path to true greatness isn't this easy, either. This is just part one to your change. You are much stronger than you were before but you still have much mental and physical training ahead."_

_Mr Dismas stops there, and pauses just to silently pace again. He performs things like this as an intimidation method. To see if any of them will show signs of fear. The only human-like emotional capabilities he wants in them is focus on the task at hand and the ability to obey._

_They all remain still and emotionless, their eyes blankly staring ahead as Mr Dismas paces past them. He talks again. "You know, It's rather sad that you all haven't had all your training yet. You could've gone on one of the most serious missions I've ever launched. My best soldier, my number one puppet on strings, left me, for the second time. I gave him combat skill, knowledge, accuracy, enhanced versions of his mutant abilities....but, he left me again." He punctuates the anger he feels in his words by stabbing his staff into the ground and leaving it there._

_He slightly laughs a moment at his petty anger, cracks his knuckles, and continues. "His mind has always been sort of resistant to my...brainwashing...I guess you can call it. It's like when he gets the work done on him, the part of him he used to be gets sort of tucked away behind a mental wall, instead of going away like my methods are supposed to make it. He always slowly starts coming back to himself. He was always just so damn self aware, unlike you perfect puppets."_

_Mr Dismas looks towards them and smirks a little, proud of how they still stand almost emotionless, awaiting command. He goes on. "I know where he is, you know. My team recently found him so now I have a file on his location. He did what I expected again. He lied his way into someone's life. Made them believe he was someone he wasn't, got the help he desperately feels he needs. He doesn't need this doctor he's seeing. He needs to give into his instincts, be as powerful as I crafted him to be."_

_He rips his staff from the ground, carefully poking the tip with two fingers. "When he first left I thought this whole operation was over. Then as weeks went by, months went by... I only recently realized he's not as disconnected from his loyalty to me as I thought. There's still a part of him that never fades away regardless of how much of his old self he gains back and that's the desire to keep everything about us, all that he know a secret. A vow of silence he doesn't even know he made to himself to put it in simpler terms."_

_Mr Dismas pauses again, hearing a gang of footsteps followed by muffled pleads. He smiles widely, the main key to the first test he prepared for his soldiers are arriving. "He's been gone for 3 months, children. He hasn't said a thing. So, that's how I know I still have him, just not physically. Anyways, enough about him for now. For now, Its time to show you one of the things that happens to the innocent guards you leave behind when you make an escape."_

_He has to wait only a minute until two stoic-faced guards burst in through the door holding a , fumbling, pleading guard dressed in the same uniform who has tape over his mouth. Mr Dismas runs a hand through his hair and stares into the fearful eyes of the second security guard who was responsible for making sure James stayed put in disgust. "Throw him down." Mr Dismas commanded and the two guards did just that._

_The scared guard hyperventilates as he looks up at Mr.Dismas. "You failed your task at hand. You lost your focus. I simply can't allow a mistake this huge to happen a third time!" He snapped, his yelling so ferocious it made the guard shake nervously._

_"I let a more capable guard handle the first useless soldier who worked with you that night James escaped again. Nice and easy, just a knife to the throat. You don't get off so easily. You were supposed to know better than him. So I saved you for a moment like this. I no longer have use for you."_

_Mr Dismas walks a few paces back over to his 18 new soldiers. His smug smile returns as he points to the one he put his staff in the face of earlier, and the two on either side of that person._

_  
"You three, Kill him."_

_That's all it takes and they quickly turn their attention towards the guard on the floor, rushing towards him then proceeding to take turns beating him brutally. As much as this is an amazing sight to Mr Dismas, he has better things to attend to._

_"You two take all these soldiers to their rooms when these three are finished. Oh and do please make sure to clean up the body."_

_The two guards nod and with that Mr Dismas leaves the room and heads down to the computer lab to speak with the tech expert who exclusively asked for his permission to start gaining information._

                                                       ----------------------------------------

_Once he's there, he quickly walks through the rows and rows of computers until he gets to Reuben's desk space. "Your last bit of information you gave me was impressive. I hope you're close to receiving more."_

_Rueben gives a sad expression as he turns around and responds. "The central coding of this Saint Bahkita Medical Center was extremely fragile. Getting information on the doctor James is seeing was the easy part. I got a phone number of his I wanted to track but the software on his phone is something much more advanced than what's usually on smartphones. It's taking me hours to even try to start bypassing the firewall. When I do, It's most likely not going to be secret. Whoever installed this software may be notified."_

_Mr Dismas nods and thinks a moment. He has an idea what this is all about. "There's never been any kind of virus protection anyone here wasn't able to easily break through. This must be from S.H.I.E.L.D...They're the only ones with software this powerful. There's nothing saying this Sam Wilson is a registered agent for them is there?"_

_"No Sir."_

_"Then someone in his life works for them, and secretly has him under protection from our kind of hacking software. I've seen this problem before with them. I noticed his address has been redacted from the files I've read, too. Just like the last time we encountered this problem."_

_"Yes actually. I've never had this problem before. Any Idea how how to get through this sir?"_

_"It would take you maybe 2 hours to crack their software. Hope that maybe you figure out how to get through before the agent accesses the termination portion of their software. If this agent destroys Dr. Wilson's phone, we have no choice but to go from the silent way of getting him to the messy way."_

_Rueben smirks and nods. He knows the messy way is what The Doomsday Syndicate gained attention for._

                                                        -------------------------------------

The tires screech loudly as Steve arrives on Sam's block. He swerves into an empty parking space and quickly turns the engine off. He glances over to Sam's house and see that his lights are still on. He takes a deep breath and sits back in his seat for just a moment. Once he's ready, he quickly jumps out and jogs up to Sam's front door and rings the bell.

Sam opens the door and smiles at him. "Hey, came to cook for me again? Well that's too bad. I just ate a lot!"

Despite the serious situation Steve can't help but smile when Sam does. "Looks like that's out the window huh? Still though, I figured you can use the company." He replies and Sam steps to the side and lets him in. When Steve steps in he sees Natasha on the couch.

"'Tasha?"

She looks up from some lemonade she was sipping and smiles. She stands up and walks over to hug him. He smiles warmly at her too. "I guess we both decided to just come check on Sam tonight huh?" She questions jokingly. "Sam had a date all day long that's why he didn't answer his phone."

Sam sucks his teeth and glares playfully at her as she giggles. "Gross, Nat. He's my cousin. Besides, it's not that, my phone just been acting up for a few hours. Steve of course you remember T'Challa right?"

Steve was about to ask to use his phone until he mentioned T'Challa. He would never forget him. He Would never forget what they did when they were alone either. Once Sam told him that his cousin was the famous curator Steve was a huge fan of, he just already had in mind to do anything for him. "Yes!....hopefully we get to talk again one day, we had a good time the last time we talked." Steve couldn't wipe the embarrassing smirk off his face if he tried.

"I'll give you his number and you can talk to him anytime, I'm sure he'll appreciate it! He said he loved meeting you." Sam suggests, pulling out his phone. That's when Steve suddenly remembered what he came here to do.

He decides to wait until Sam sends him T'Challa's number. After Steve feels his own phone vibrate from the new message, he focuses on the mission. Good thing Sam already gave him the perfect reason to get a hold of the phone. "Thank you Sam! Hey uh, you said your phone was acting up? I'm amazing with technology, let me see?"

Sam hands it over with no problem. "Definitely, if there's something you can do, please do it."

Steve nods and quickly begins. He resets the phone, then when the welcome screen comes on, he enters his numeric agent ID that installs S.H.I.E.L.D's smartphone software. This brings up a screen that slowly begins to flood with coding. Steve waits for a specific line to come up before typing "000000" which is the termination code. This makes the phone overheat and spark a moment, before catching on fire. Steve yelps as he lets the phone drop to the ground.

Sam and Natasha turn around from the couch. Natasha sees the phone on fire and quickly jumps up and runs over to it, pouring the rest of her lemonade on it. "What the hell..." She begins to ask, breaking out into laughter. Sam stares in shock a moment before he actually laughs himself.

Steve just shakes his head. "You know, it doesn't really make me look that good with technology when I press a few buttons and the phone explodes."

Once they calm their laughter, Sam comes over to inspect the damage. "Ahh don't worry about it. I needed a new phone anyway. I'm just thankful this didn't happen while it was in my pocket. In a weird way, you actually did solve the problem." He says, gripping Steve's shoulder.

"Well hey I'm glad I could help... I guess?" Steve replies and looks toward the kitchen. "How about I clean this up and we could all watch a movie or something?"

Sam and Nat agree to the idea and offer their help to Steve and they all start cleaning. As Steve looks at the burnt remains of the phone, he can't help but realize that if whoever's after Sam really wants him, His status in the world could make him be easily found, like Fury said.

                                                          ------------------------------------

The next morning, Sam awakes on the couch in between his two best friends. He looks at them both and how their heads are laying on both of his shoulders. Immediately he notices the feeling of their breaths against his neck, and just how close their lips are to his skin. He looks down and they both have one hand resting on his lap.

Sam lets out a quiet groan as he closes his eyes, enjoying the sensation of them breathing gently right on two of the sensitive spots on his neck. He then opens his eyes and stills himself at the feeling of Natasha shifting in her sleep. The plush softness of her lips accidentally graze his neck and he couldn't control the little flinch his body gave.

This apparently wakes Steve up. "Sam?..." he sleepily calls out with a concerned look.

"Yeah?" Sam replies, startled.

"You okay?" Steve asks, the hand already on Sam's thigh beginning to squeeze and rub it.

Sam shifts a little under his touch, trying to will away the obvious sign of arousal growing in the sweatpants he threw on last night. "I'm fine...I just woke up." He replies lowly.

"You don't seem fine, Sam." Natasha's voice suddenly says as she sits up, dragging her fingers along the back of Sam's neck, sending shivers down his spine.

"What the hell is happening here?" Sam's mind screams at him. Though their touches feel amazing, he can't help but feel like this is way out of the ordinary. He watches as Steve and Natasha share a look that Sam is no where near sure about.

While he's thinking about what's going on here, he almost straight up whimpers as he now feels Steve's lips against his ear. He listens as Steve whispers. "I got a question for you, Sam. Just how much does our friendship mean to you?"

Before Sam could answer, Natasha moans while she starts kissing and sucking at the base of his neck and Steve snakes his hand inside Sam's pants, beginning to stroke him slowly.

Sam's feeling so many things at once, his heart is beginning to race quickly as he moans at the sensations. He only gets to feel this good under their spell for maybe a minute before....

Before he wakes up. Before he wakes up sweating and panting, and sees Steve and Nat still asleep across from him on his other couch. Sam takes a moment to look at them and settle his breathing. Once he does, he slowly stands up, then heads towards his bathroom. While he walks, he can't stop looking back at them after replaying that vivid dream he had until he walks around the corner.

When he finishes his shower, Nat and Steve are awake and in the kitchen. Sam just watches them from the living room a moment. Steve is cooking them all some breakfast while Nat browses one of Sam's Better Homes and Gardens magazines he left on the counter.

Sam smirks and walks inside. When they look up and see him dressed in his dress shirt and slacks, they look at him disapprovingly. Natasha puts the magazine down. "Where do you think you're going? You still have another day off mister!"

"Yeah Sam we had a deal!" Steve protests, plating the bacon omelets and grits he made and pushing the plate over to Sam with a smile.

Sam laughs and begins to dig in. "Listen guys... I really enjoyed my day off yesterday and all, but I really need to get back. Steve, you know James is there and I really need to continue with his therapy."

Steve and Natasha look at each other like parents deciding the fate for their child. "Fine. We missed you yesterday anyway." Steve admits with a smile. "Oh and I talked to Buck yesterday, he seems pretty comfortable but I can tell from when we talked that his anxiety is acting up."

Sam pauses his eating. "Are we talking just a little or in an emergency way?" Sam needs to know. He needs to know right now.

"Woah, woah Sam... trust me if it was that bad I would've made sure he got some emergency help if I couldn't get you." Steve promises in a calming tone, passing Sam and Natasha a cup of coffee.

"You better." Sam warns both jokingly and threateningly.

"You got it boss!" Steve replies with his hands up. They both laugh a little.

Natasha cuts in. "Oh and don't worry about driving today. If you won't take your second day off you're gonna at least let me take you to and from work." She says in a tone that lets Sam know she's not taking no for an answer.

"Yes Ma'am. My mind feels a little foggy this morning anyway. I probably couldn't focus on driving anyway." He admits. His mind still definitely hasn't gotten over one of his fantasies playing out so realistically in his dream.

"Yeah we know how you get when you don't get your full beauty sleep. We did stay up pretty  
late last night." Steve recalls.

Sam nods and smiles. "Exactly." Is all he says in response, reaching to check his phone for the time...then realizing he didn't have one anymore. He makes a mental note to himself to get another.

                                                    ---------------------------------------

Yesterday was relaxing. However when he stepped back inside the main entrance of his job, Sam really felt the most at peace. He looks around at all the doctors and patients doing their miscellaneous activities around them and he feels he missed the sight.

He walks up to the front desk to sign in for today. He's greeted by the pleasant accented voice of the receptionist. "Good Morning Dr. Wilson! Welcome back. I hope everything is well with you."

"Good morning Jarvis! It's nice to be back." Sam politely responds, signing his name.

"Good! Oh, In case you were looking for your latest patient, Mr. Barnes, he just was escorted into the recreation center 15 minutes ago."

"That's exactly who I was looking for actually. Thank you sir, you have a good day!"

"No problem Dr Wilson, you as well!" They shake hands and Sam is on his way to the recreation center.

Sam actually hasn't stepped foot in there in a while so when he gets inside, he's blown away by the beautiful artistic design in there. He watches for a moment as all the patients talk or play happily. He also sees some creating paintings, some making jewelry, some doing some cooking... and he's just so glad they're all so happy. Even if it's just for a little while.

While deep in thought he almost gets scared out of his skin when James comes up behind him and shouts "Boo!" while clasping his hands on his shoulders.

Sam tries to calm his frantic heartbeat as he turns around to look at James, who's holding back his laughter to the best of his ability. "O-okay...Okay I'm sorry, I-I am so fuckin sorry doc. If you just saw how you jumped though.. oh my god."

Sam couldn't stay mad for a second. "It's nice to see you in a playful mood, James. You feeling good today? Good enough to talk to me?" he says in a cheerful tone, letting James know it's all good.

James shrugs. "Well.... that depends... do I still get the cake you promised me?"

"Of course, I wouldn't keep that from you!" Sam says, already leading the way towards the cafeteria, beckoning James to follow with a "come here" motion of his finger.

James follows eagerly. "Thanks. Hey um, for real though. I'm sorry if I scared you real bad. I'm just so crazy with energy this morning. I haven't felt like this in a while and I hope I didn't take it too far. This is a real nice place you got here. I even made a few friends like we talked about.

"Aw James Its fine, really. My two best friends, Especially my best friend Natasha, likes pranking me worse than that sometimes. I'm glad you're feeling good and that you made a few friends! If that's all you want to talk about today than I'll definitely love that, okay?"

James smiles nervously, still feeling terrible. "O-Oh sure. Yeah I wouldn't mind."

Sam doesn't miss the sadness and regret in James' tone. He puts on his most loving, careful voice. "Cool. Let's get you some cake." James just keeps his smile and nods. Opting not to say anything else for the moment. Sam clasps him gently on the shoulder and even though James flinched and moved slightly backward, James was... well...alright with the touch for once.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know what to say... I hope this chapter was enjoyable... had fun writing that threesome-ish part lol.


	8. The Seeing Eye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam acheives a huge privilege with James that only few people have. James recovers some very important memories. Then things escalate quickly.

  
The cafeteria smelled like an array of different breakfast foods and pastries when they walked in. One thing Sam really missed even for a day is coming in here every morning. As they walk in there's only a few lingering people around and a few quiet conversations can be heard.

Sam guides them over to the food counter where to his delight Steve and his cooking staff are putting freshly prepared dishes and desserts into the display. "You want to go and speak to the Chef really quick before we get our stuff and leave?" he asks James.

"Sure I could pick on him some more..."

"James..."

"I'm kidding. For real though, last night I talked to him. I bought something up and I might have made him uncomfortable."

"Steve did tell me you guys talked. Trust me when he told me that all he said was you seemed nervous. He's definitely still your friend if that's what your worried about."

"You're right doc, he's a pretty understanding guy." He pauses for a moment, unsure if his next thought even matters. He decides to say it anyway. "I just always assume I'm going to ruin something good so when something like this happens, I'm ready to be left alone again."

"It's okay to feel upset if you think you messed up towards someone you care about."

"Is it?"

"Yeah but it's not okay to devalue your own worth as a person because of your mistakes. Feeling like you messed up big time in this way is never an easy thing to except. However, you can take pride in the fact that your mistakes help you learn. They help you grow to understand how to be as a person and help you better understand others' feelings if you truly learn from them."

"Right. C'mon, let's just talk to him already." James says with a hint of a chuckle in his voice, seeming a bit unconvinced but still thanking Sam with a hand on his shoulder.

Sam chuckles a bit also and returns the gesture with a gentle rub across his back. They pick up their pace and finally walk over to the counter where now Steve is standing a few feet back from it at the kitchen doors, talking quietly on the phone with someone. It doesn't seem that happy of a conversation from his facial expressions.

When Steve turns and sees them standing there he quickly tells the person he'll have to call them back and hangs up. He strolls a few feet forward to the display counter to greet them. "Hey guys, everything alright?"

"James just wanted to see you before we started his session today. Right James?"

James locks eyes with Steve and says nothing until Steve smiles warmly at him. He smiles in return. "Yeah, I just wanted to check on you. Also, I want that cake." He states, pointing at the freshly baked chocolate cake.

Both Steve and Sam share a smile at each other before Steve responds. "Excellent choice! Do you remember this was the first dessert I taught you to make?" He asks as he takes a slice and places it in places it in a small to go box for him and passes it to him.

James' expression is incredibly surprised."Wow...No, not really. All I knew about this until now is how much I love chocolate cake. I guess now I know why. Thank you sir. I took some damage to my head a while ago so uh...relearning my memories really means a lot to me."

Steve extends his hand and James shakes it gladly. "I'm always happy to help you, Bucky." he says then there's a moment of silence before he speaks again. "You guys ready?" He asks, pointing to the cash register a few feet away from them. They both nod and go down to it. Steve checks them out then they're on their way to Sam's office.

When they're walking out in the hallway, James stares at Sam as they walk. He looks down at the cake then back up to him. "Hey... I- I just... wanted to say thank you. Not just for buying me stuff, either. You're so good at your job and honestly, I feel like all your kindness, all your hope... it's just being wasted on me."

"I'm not wasting anything on you James. I know we barely know each other but that doesn't matter to me. I care about you. I respect you. I don't expect you to feel that way and you don't have to."

"Well I definitely respect you doc and uh...if you were in trouble I'd definitely rush to save you so... I'd say I care about you. I mean because...you know... I need help...I can't trust my own mind and you've shown you're the best person to give me help so yeah...I wouldn't want to lose you or nothing." James admits, scratching the back of his head, feeling a little embarrassed at how he thinks he sounds saying this.

They come to the door of Sam's office and Sam smiles as he pulls out the key. He looks up at James and sees the deep look of gratitude in his features. "I know what you mean James. Thank you for caring about me. I can promise you that my help is something good you can't ever ruin, always." He says then winks at him.

James smiles back. It's probably the biggest smile Sam has ever gotten out of him so far and it makes his heart flutter in his chest and his skin feel warm. He regards it in his mind as the good feeling he gets from doing good things for others.

"Oh and Doc...Since we're gonna start being cool for real and all, Call me Bucky, or Buck.. whatever. Both.I honestly haven't been called James by anyone who knows me truly since I was like 8."

"Woah uh okay. You got it Jam-...Buck..Bucky. God that feels weird to say."

"Don't worry you'll get used to it."

                                             

                                                    ---------------------------------------------

 

"Dr. Wilson of the SBMC saves 14 young mutant lives in hostage situation". Damn. Didn't know you were the hero kind. Though I should've known since I've never really smelled fear in you...until this morning." James... Well Bucky now... smirks and states this in a monotone voice, half transfixed by his reading of the article hanging on Sam's wall in his office.

Sam laughs and rolls his eyes. He puts down the bag containing the cake he got for Bucky and steps closer behind him. "I was only sort of startled, thank you very much. What's that in your hand by the way?"

"Whatever you say, hero. Oh and these are the files you needed from my case manager, here." Bucky responds, passing the files to him.

"Oh cool, when did he bring these? This morning?"

"No he actually got them here last night. He said he had to leave town so he came then."

Sam just nods, now transfixed on his own reading material as he opens up Bucky's file and scans through it. He notices it's a pretty small file for Bucky. He's used to at least 20 pages of records including medicine and hospitalization records, detailed therapy history, list of allergies, etc. but it seems it's just only a few pages of shelter discharge papers which were not signed which shows that he must have just got up and left when he felt like it.

It wasn't just one copy either. Two other shelters also kept him before. Along with this one which seems to be in Sweden, there's also one from New York and the last one from London. All had fake names written on them. After these documents there's just a one page summary account of when he once had a therapist before Sam in Maine that includes a few medicines he had to take for a while. Sam raises his eyebrows as he reads. Bucky is quite the traveler. He has a few guesses on this.

Bucky noticed the change in expression and his own changes with worry. "Is...there something wrong?"

Sam looks up from the file and smirks a little. "Nothing wrong with you, no. I think I just have 3 guesses for you. Wanna hear them?"

Bucky returns the smirk and sits down in a chair across from Sam. "Try Me."

Sam closes the file and gently puts it down. "Well, guess number one is that you must definitely be on the run from someone. Anyone who comes into my facility's care with these few files and not even so much as a social security number must really not want to be found." Then Sam's face softens in sympathy when he watches Bucky sit up slowly and lean back into the chair, his interested expression at their little game replaced with a look of formerly repressed fear.

Sam sees Bucky struggling to find words at the mention of it so Sam attempts to calm him. "If you're in trouble with the law I can help you...depending on what you did. You want to tell me what you did?"

Bucky slowly rakes a hand through his hair and stares at him a little. He lets out a deep breath. "Not the law. Just some scary bastards. Well, one scary bastard and his entire crew. Don't worry I don't think they can find me here. Anyway, your first guess is right. What's the second?"

Sam wants to cancel their game. "Bucky?... Look, we don't have to keep prying into this right now. Whenever you're ready-"

"What's the second guess?" Bucky interrupts and states as if Sam haven't even replied. Bucky moves his chair a little closer to Sam and waits, desperately wanting to hear the second guess.

Sam picks up his notepad on the table in front of them and begins to write before he responds. "Who you're running from isn't a family member. Am I right?"

"Yep. You're right he's not. He's just a really evil guy okay? Some sort of human trafficker. I want...I want to tell you more but I can barely remember anything. My memories either feel so limited or they come and go."

Sam definitely makes a note of that. He also makes a mental note of how Bucky showed that earlier when Steve asked Bucky about the cake. "Don't worry Bucky i'm sure we can unlock all the pieces of your best memories one step at a time. No rush."

Bucky nods. "Thanks again, doc. Final guess?"

"I remember on our first session you said you want nothing to do with having the power from an alpha because you feel too destructive. What I'm thinking is that abuse from this evil guy has something to do with this. Am I right?"

Bucky takes a moment to answer. This is one of those things he can't remember the right away. Sam waits patiently, writing a few more sentences on Bucky while he takes his time. When Bucky gets it Sam didn't expect what he heard. "Maybe...I'm remembering shocks. I remember something about not being able to mess up because I'd get shocked. I don't remember what or who it's linked to."

"That sounds horrible. I've heard many cases of abuse in my career. That sounds like one of the absolute worst."

"Yep... I remember being trained by him. Killing for him and...oh god the other times I left him...Doc...this isn't the first time."

"What do you mean? The first time you escaped him?" Sam asked as calmly as possible, seeing that Bucky is getting a bit worked up.

"Yeah. London. New York. Maine. Sweden...Sweden...Sweden. I remember Sweden...How did I get to Sweden..."

Sam remembers from the file that the first location is Sweden. He picks up Bucky's file again and takes out the first Shelter discharge papers. "Hey Buck? You weren't born in Sweden were you? You sound like you got a slight new yorker accent, like Steve. Is that where you met him?"

"Yeah. Steve...Steve. I remembered something about Steve...I thought he was dead because...of what happened at... a city fair?...the competition! I got taken to Sweden from there in New York! There was a cooking competition at a city fair that he took the class to see and..and... fuck... that's where he got that phone call I was suspicious about.. the one about his sister. He told us we should leave and got in that black suv."

Sam looks completely lost. "I'm getting the whole thing about the fair and the competition but... what is that about Steve, his sister and the suv?"

Bucky speaks frantically, leaning down and putting his head in his hands. "Uhh okay that was...last night when we talked and I bought this memory up but I bought it up wrong. I remembered wrong and what I'm telling you was what actually happened. Fuck...God I fucked up, I fucked up oh my god I don't even know if this is right but my mind is telling me this... New York. That's where everything blew up at the fair and they took me. Is this New York?"

Sam puts both his notepad and Bucky's file down. He gets out of his chair and kneels in front of him and massages his hands into Bucky's shoulders. "No Bucky this is Washington. You escaped this evil person in Sweden again... and this time you ended up in Washington... okay?"

"Okay..."

"Now let me ask you something. Do you remember telling me anything about a halfway house you lived in around the time we first met?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, now do you remember anything relating to that?"

Bucky breathes deeply and closes his eyes to think again. He gets the thought. "God that wasn't a house...it was just a huge section like...maybe like an area I was put in. What the fuck..Why did I remember it like that? The real thing... it was covered in... markings on the walls?.... Markings like dents. They look like...fists."

Sam looks at him curiously. He studied Bucky's facial expressions while he talked with his eyes closed and he noticed how his head flinched and turned as if someone shined light into them. Sam has another guess. "Bucky? Are you seeing these memories visually?"

Bucky slowly opens his eyes and nods. "Mhmm hmm. Something else...It's...It's something else, which I'm remembering, I wasn't able to do until the shocks. After the shocks. The shocks affected my abilities and added more. Ones he didn't want me to have. He only wanted me to keep certain ones."

Sam's honestly getting nervous now. A lot of what they were saying here were things that reminded him of his conversation with T'Challa at YellowJackets. People getting taken away. Public affair being attacked. Favoring mutants when abducting...adding abilities. Could it be?

"Bucky...I want you to focus on something real hard for me. I think I might have an idea where you're from. Do you see anything involving a group called The Doomsday Syndicate in your memories?"

Bucky's next words come out in a sort of whisper as he focuses harder. "Something...Something with a D. I'm seeing and hearing this. Dinus? Discus? Dismas. Dismas. Dismas is someone's name. Okay now there's...now there's a big metal door with the initials TDS. It doesn't say what it means. It could be that name you said."

"Oh my god." That's all Sam could say as he froze in shock. He couldn't even ask Bucky another question. Just watched him as his mind cycled through memories. Then suddenly, Bucky's eyes snapped open and he shuddered a little. He had a blank stare like he saw a ghost. Sam gets his attention. "Bucky, what's wrong? What else did you see?" He asks as he flinches at the sound of faint screams outside his open window.

"For some reason I just saw a group of people outside. With huge weapons. Doc...That can't be a memory I'm sure no matter what I would have remembered -"

He was cut off as the ground shook under them with the sound of an enormous bang.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed! Thank you for reading up to this point it really means a lot to me.


	9. The Stand-Off

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mr.Dismas finds out he chose the wrong person to make an enemy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW for minor character death. yikes.

  
**_(Mr. Dismas POV.)_ **

_"Beautiful execution on the explosion, children. A little underwhelming than I like, but... I'll take it I guess."_

_I spoke calmly to some of my explosive experts as they followed me inside the building through the screams and panicked chatter of the civilians either running away or looking on in shock. They barely reacted to my words. I forgot that these soldiers are new ones. They haven't remembered how they used to formerly communicate yet. It's perfectly okay to me since I rarely need their conversations._

_I stabbed my staff into the crumbled debris for leverage as I walked over it. As I watched mutants of all kinds run out the sides of the building, I made sure none of them could be who I was looking for. It was an amazing sight to watch them run. Anyone I made eye contact with turned away immediately. I've destroyed and raided much bigger places than this yet this time... I have never felt so feared._

_When we finally reached the entrance of the blown open building, I was surprised to see how much was still intact. Including a desk where a receptionist was crouching behind it, talking hurriedly to someone on the phone. I held out my hand to signal my soldiers to stop where they were. I was going to make him regret not running in fear of my presence when he had the chance._

_So then I quickly walked over to the desk, barely giving him more than a few seconds to acknowledge who I was before making him drop the phone by pulling him up to my eye level by his neck. As he shook and whimpered I smiled at him. I just took a moment to let him grasp and claw at his neck in panic, clearly needing air. He's already regretting staying. I can see it in his eyes._

_After this moment of silence between us, I took the tip of my staff and poked him gently in the chest. He instantly stops struggling and his eyes are glazed over with a blue shade. I let him go so he could stand on his own and he did so. Just stood completely still. No backtalk, no emotions, nothing. Perfect._

_"Who was it on the phone?" I asked in a tone so gentle it was almost a whisper. This is a time where I usually abuse this power to play mind games with the person, but at this moment Id just like to get this show on the road. He stared at me blankly and began breathing deeply, fighting the spell. Resisting the urge to tell me the truth. I've seen this only one time before and that was with James. This man was just as intelligent. Sickening. Annoying._

_I felt a rage in me. I felt something so horrible inside me that I couldn't bare to hold it back. I laughed maniacally as I twisted my staff in my hands. He's challenging me. He's challenging me just like James always does. He thinks he's better than me. James already thinks he's better than me. I can't fucking have this. Not with this man, not with James... not with anyone. I'll make sure James knows this when I get him back again._

_For now though, I want my answer. I growled as I grabbed him by his neck again. I increased the magic at the tip of my staff and poked his chest again and kept it there this time. He became in pain as his body shook slightly. The intensified version of the magic caused me a bit of pain myself in my arm as I held his neck. I could bare it if it teaches him a lesson._

_Through gritted teeth, I asked my question again. "Who. Was. On. The. Phone!!"_

_I was highly pleased when the response came immediately. Faint so I could barely hear it, but immediately. "D-Doctor...Wilson."_

_My eyes lit up at the mention of the name. I was told this was James' Doctor. I had to ask to make sure however. "Doctor Samuel Wilson?"_

_"Yes."_

_"Thank you. What's your name?"_

_He looked confused a moment before responding weakly. "Jarvis."_

_"Thank you, Jarvis." I smiled at him again before I took my hand from his neck and my staff from his chest. He had a split second to take a breath before I placed my palm on his forehead, performing magic that lets me see into his memories. I didn't bother asking him where I could find Dr Wilson, for he'd probably lie to me to make his escape._

_I saw that they interacted this morning. He even mentioned James. I saw him interact with James before Dr Wilson. He looked happy. Disgusting._

_I saw a computer screen in his memory that showed every detail of the doctor. His address, his patients, his number....his office. There it is._

_I removed my hand and watched him fall to the floor. His body looked overwhelmed from the force of the magic used on him. "Not so smart looking now, are you?" I said lowly to him. He looked at me confused one last time before I took the end of my staff and stabbed right through his brain. It's what he deserved for daring to challenge my magic._

_After I finished watching the blood pool around the desk, I slowly stepped away. I looked over to my soldiers. They still stood carefully right where I left them. I walked over to them and commanded them to follow me past all the fallen obstacles up to the hallway where the doctor's office was that I saw In Jarvis' memory._

                                                     

                                                    -----------------------------------------------

 

"Jarvis? Jarvis?!" Sam called as he was in the middle of listening to him explain what was going on, then suddenly it all stopped. Sam fell to his knees as he expected the worst.

He looked over to Bucky who wasted no time and was now standing up, heading towards the door. He takes a look at the damage outside the door. It's not too bad yet except for some cracking walls, flickering lights and falling plaster as a result of the blast. They need to go before it all caves in. He needs some guidance though.

Bucky rushes back over to Sam and pulls him to his feet and pulls him by his hand to the door. "Look." Bucky requests and Sam does.

Sam looks out and sees the damage Bucky sees and nods his head. "The floor still looks stable enough to walk on. The emergency exit stairwell is not far from here and should still be stable enough to use."

"What if it's not?"

"Then there are emergency stairs outside a few parts of the building. Even if it's loose and sort of hanging off we should be able to get down if we're careful."

"Sounds good to me. I trust your insight. I'm usually pretty reckless about the whole "escaping dangerous situations" thing. Let's go."

They take a second to smile at each other before Sam opens the door and lets Bucky step out first. He does so very slowly, balling his fists up and unsheathing his metal claws once he's out in the hallway, which makes Sam flinch at the sight and sound. Bucky having claws shouldn't have been so shocking since he knows all wolves have them but in all his years of work this is the first time he's seen a wolf's claws unsheathed.

"Wow..." He couldn't help but mutter out loud as they began to head towards the stairwell first.

"I'll tell you more about them when we make it out of here alive, deal?" Bucky responds and elbows Sam's arm. Clearly this isn't the first time someone was amazed by his claws.

"Deal!" Sam responds trying to hide the excitement in his voice but utterly failing, making them both smile again. They kept up their normal pace until the building shook again as more of it started to crumble and break. They began jogging towards the stairwell.

"You know..." Bucky starts. "You seem pretty calm for someone who's entire building is falling apart."

"Yeah well, James-"

"Bucky."

"Oh, yeah, Bucky. One thing I learned about life is that you can't expect something you have to last forever. You have to expect that you might have to start over again once you lose who or what you love so when it happens, It doesn't hurt that bad."

"I don't know Doc. Sounds kind of sad to me. Wouldn't that be sad to expect to lose everything you have all the time?"

"Nope. You can realize that life comes with plenty of misfortunes without letting it affect your courage that you need to be able to pick yourself back up. You've had to start over a few times yourself, haven't you?"

"Yeah I guess you're right...for most people. It hasn't been positive for me. For a while starting over meant....going back to him."

Moments after he said this he goes wide-eyed and glances down the hallway in the direction they're jogging and sees the monster responsible for his worse nightmares turn the corner. Bucky's breathing quickens slightly as he makes eye contact with him for the first time in a few months.

Sam immediately stops as well and stands in front of James. It doesn't take much of putting two and two together to realize exactly who the man with a group of uniformed allies walking towards them is.

"Are you crazy? I'm the one with the metal shears. You get behind me. Or better yet, lets just run, now."

"I don't want you to attack him, Bucky. He might already expect that and has a way to stop you in your tracks." Sam responds, ignoring the part about running.

"He would kill you to get to me. You don't know him that well doc. Any educated guesses about him are no good." Bucky rushes to say. He wants to get it into Sam's head to stop being brave and just get behind him as quickly as possible...or better, just run already.

This only gave Sam a guess. "He'd kill me to get to you? Good to know." Bucky looks at him like he lost his mind and Sam continues. "I have an idea. You watch a lot of movies?"

Bucky looks confused. "No, not really, Why?"

"Well, in a few action movie plots, the antagonist will grab someone important to their enemy and threaten to kill them if the enemy doesn't back off. This makes the enemy reconsider their actions and stall. I'm thinking if I could stall him for as long as it takes..."

Bucky nods. He catches on. "Okay... so I'm guessing you want to play the antagonist and I'm the important person? What do you have that could threaten me?"

Sam remembers a silver, foldable pocket knife he bought himself at a wilderness survival shop when he went camping with T'Challa years ago. He's kept it on him ever since. Mostly for uses such as cutting up some food he buys from the cafeteria or when a rope or string needs cutting. This is something much more serious obviously, but Sam can handle it.

He pulls out the pocket knife and shows it to Bucky. "This is pure silver." He says then he clicks a button to make the blade appear. It's a pretty big knife so it's perfect to look threatening to anyone. At this point Mr. Dismas is many yards away but has been fully recognized Bucky.

"Get ready Bucky. follow my lead and Just try to keep looking afraid as they come closer. Okay?"

"Okay..." Bucky responds. He didn't have to "try" though.

                                                       

                                                -----------------------------------------------

 

_**(Mr. Dismas POV)** _

_I have to say I was a bit disappointed in how easy it was to get up here from the ground level. I really, really figured the explosion would have affected the building much heavier than it did. The place is falling apart quite nicely though, I will admit that. As I walked through long hallways the ground underneath me felt shifted and uneven, The walls creaked and cracked as the plaster and wood started to break inside them, The lights flickered, and I could still hear people scream. I couldn't be too disappointed._

_Besides, If the explosion was too effective I could have murdered my perfect soldier. I didn't think much of this when I was a part of developing this plan. All I can think of is everything I can take. Who's lives I can take, who's joy I can take... which mutants I can take. I'm only here for one mutant today though, and as I turned around the corner of one hallway he was running with who I assumed was the doctor, Sam Wilson._

_Surely they couldn't see from how far away they were from me but I smiled at their fear as they stopped in their tracks. I didn't make an effort to run to them. I knew they would try to stand their ground as most bravery types do. I looked at them as they talked quickly to each other, most likely figuring out how they were going to face me._

_I won't lie, I picked up my steps towards them a little while I watched them talk. They almost seemed on the brink of running to me. I became the cat that didn't want the little mice to get away, but I still wouldn't run to them. I'm eager, but not that desperate._

_Then, I watched as the doctor pulled out a knife and seemed to be...maybe describing it to him? I almost wanted to stop and start laughing right there. Does this brave fool really think I'll let him get that close to me with a knife? Still, it's quite the impressive looking tool. Maybe when I kill him I'll put it to good use._

_Once I'm finally standing a few feet in front of them well... The meeting was obviously full of tension._

                     

                                                       ------------------------------------------

 

Bucky stands next to Sam and can't even look the evil in the face as boldly as Sam can. Sam doesn't blame him or try to make him look. Bucky turns his face away to the side and tries to calm his breathing and resist the urge to throw up. He mentally kicks himself for not helping but to feel so weak in his presence.

They all stand there a moment in silence before Mr. Dismas laughs a little. "How nice is it that you've become so weak that you need a braver person to stand up to me for you, Jamie?" He taunts towards Bucky.

In that moment, just that quick with just that one line, it felt like all of Bucky's fear turned into pure rage and he tries to leap forward to get his claws into his throat but Sam pulls him back with his free hand and decides to just get started with their plan.

He wraps his forearm around Bucky's throat and threateningly presses the tip of the silver knife right above where his heart is located. Though the rage still boils inside him as he thrashes a little he remains still as he possibly can. He doesn't want the knife to accidentally go through him after all.

Immediately the soldiers around Mr Dismas raise their guns to Sam, ready to shoot. However, Mr Dismas raises his hand which makes them go back to their resting position. There's a look of surprise on his face as he puts the staff down, crosses his arms, and sighs. "Now, now doctor. It wouldn't look good on you to kill a patient."

Sam almost wants to smile at him. Mr. Dismas reacted exactly like how Sam wanted him to. "I know plenty about the terrible things you've done. After knowing that, I'd rather kill him now then to ever let you put your hands on him again. The lord would just have to understand and forgive me." Sam replies in the most serious, authoritative tone he can manage.

Sam can see the worry starting to slowly set in onto the face of Mr. Dismas. Even through his fake, cocky I-could-care-less kind of smile. "You have no idea about the potential you'd be wasting. If you were me, Dr Wilson, you'd know well about how our mystic energies work so perfectly together."

Sam rolls his eyes. He's not for this shit. "Oh the mystic energies huh? You mean the magic abilities you forced into him? The same magic that is so unnatural to his body, it gives him pain to use it? Please save it. You know, moments before you did this crazy shit, he told me you were right outside and about to do it. Did you somehow put that into his mind as a warning...a way to scare him... a way to tell him that you're here to get him?"

Mr Dismas takes a sort of annoyed breath and runs his fingers through his hair. The same exact way he's seen Bucky do it a few times. "No. However, if he did start having visions, it's because I was close. An example of what I meant by us having this mystic energy. I get visions when I'm close to him as well."

"Oh well how sweet. He needs you around to use mutant powers that weren't supposed to be a part of him in the first place." Mr Dismas frowns and takes a few slow steps closer. Sam moves himself and Bucky backwards never moving the knife from his chest. "I think I made it clear that you better not fucking move!" Sam shouts at him.

Mr. Dismas puts his hands up as he moves back to where he was and laughs. He looks down to the staff he laid on the floor and shakes his head. "You know why I'm letting this happen doctor? Hmm? Do you know why I didn't just summon magic to hurt you and reclaim Jamie as soon as I saw you? It's because sometimes, I just love mind games. I like seeing how much I can make a person react. I love the emotional turmoil that I can read on a person's face right before they die."

"Please tell all that shit to someone who's actually scared of you. It's doing nothing for me." Sam snaps back just as confident in his words as Mr Dismas.

"Ah. You really are brave, aren't you. How interesting. Well, tell me this... how long are you planning on having this little show down in this hallway? the building is falling apart little by little and it won't be too long until this area breaks down and falls with it."

"We can stay here....As. Long. As. It. Takes. Until either you realize you can't have everything you want, or you try me, and I give Bucky the escape he's been begging to have since the first time he escaped you. Let's face it man. He can't get away from you. Not alive."

"You are such an idiot for this. Getting in the way of a purpose you'll never fully understand. Fine. I'll play your game. Maybe we'll all just die here once the building falls. Oh but wait! You'll all die and I can just summon a shield to protect myself from the falling debris! I'll live another day and find more soldiers like these and another just like him! You're doing this for nothing!" Mr Dismas finally breaks and shouts.

"For nothing?! Oh if I'm doing this for nothing I could just kill him now since he doesn't mean anything to you anymore!"

"No!!!" Mr Dismas exclaims rather loudly. He takes a few deep breaths to calm himself. "You know what? Fine. I can see that this will be a waiting game."

"You can bet your evil ass it's going to be, you fucking demon."

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry Jarvis...
> 
> but hey in the next chapter we 3rd person povs of this event from some other characters so that's pretty cool


	10. ((Hiatus Announcement))

Hi guys, Jazzy here. So listen this is just a note to let you know i'll be taking a small break from updating this story. I've been having trouble getting my thoughts together lately and it seems like i'm suffering from some writers block. All i know is i'm not feeling too well put together lately since the last chapter and I need time to collect myself and my thoughts. I don't have an exact date for when i can get it together but it shouldn't take too long. I'm sorry for any disappointment but I hope you all understand. Thank you!


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